


Dear Diary or: How I Had a Second Coronation and a Dalliance with a Detective

by OurImpavidHeroine



Series: The Abdication of Hou-Ting LIV or: How Wu Learned to Stop Being Foolish and Love the Detective [3]
Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Diary/Journal, M/M, Post-Canon, Post-Series, Romance, not comic compliant
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-15
Updated: 2015-02-19
Packaged: 2018-03-12 09:04:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 37,236
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3350999
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OurImpavidHeroine/pseuds/OurImpavidHeroine
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Wu (me) has a second and more official coronation in Ba Sing Se (read: no one interrupts this one and crushes the Kyoshi Medal of Freedom because really, that's just bad form and also? way to get upstaged, self) and gets a visit from a certain reticent but devastatingly handsome detective. Adventures follow, which include clipboards, crowns, katanas and even some kissing. (I like the kissing parts best.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Early Summer, Horse Month, 25th Day, 175 AG

**Author's Note:**

> You aren't required to read "Please Excuse My Penmanship" before reading this but there will be events and/or unexplained characters if you don't. You Have Been Warned.
> 
> My especial thanks goes out to the OST of "Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries" for providing me with appropriate background music for getting into Wu's head.
> 
> https://soundcloud.com/insyncmusicservices/sets/miss-fishers-murder-mysteries

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which someone arrives in Ba Sing Se and people get handled.

Ba Sing Se  
Early Summer, Horse Month, 25th Day, 175 AG 

 

Dear Whomever,

I am assuming if you are reading this you know who I am. Hou-Ting LIV, the last of his Dynasty. (You can call me Wu, though. The only Hou-Ting I ever knew was my great-aunt and she was an extremely unpleasant individual and I really don't like answering to the name. _At all_.) My great-grandfather Kuei (AKA Hou-Ting LII) kept diaries. All gone now in the fall of Ba Sing Se, of course, but I read them all when I was about thirteen. He kept track of _everything_ \- his childhood, when Avatar Aang came and his travels afterward, when he met and married my great-grandmother, even when his bear Bosco died, which made me cry for days. (I'm pretty sure he cried when he wrote it, the ink on that page was all smeary.)

He also wrote quite frankly about his bedroom activities with my great-grandmother! Now there was educational reading for thirteen-year-old me! If I should have a great-grandchild someday, well then, stop reading this right away! Adults only! (Never mind, I’m sure you won’t stop reading at all if you think there is any possibility of anything smutty. I know I certainly never did. In fact, I just skimmed through all the boring parts about the meetings my great-grandfather had just in the hopes I would get to the smutty parts.)

I am NOT going to write about all of my meetings; I find them dead boring to sit through so I can only imagine how boring they would be to read about. This is a personal diary, not an official one. Most likely one of my own great-grandchildren has dug it out of some old dusty trunk somewhere, so if that is the case, hello Progeny! It's lovely to meet you. I hope you have not inherited my nose; if you have, I do apologize.

(If you are looking for something official I am sure there will be history books about this whole period in time. There always are. Kuvira’s takeover of the Earth Kingdom, my being a refugee in Republic City, the return of the Avatar, etc. All of that will be recorded. So go and read one of those if you are so inclined towards veracity and dullness. If you want gossip, then by all means, stick with me.)

So!

This afternoon I was in one of the endless meetings which seem to make up my entire life right now (and which I am certainly _not_ going to record in detail, see above). You have no idea how tedious all of the meetings are. About preparing for my abdication, I mean. Oh, this is confusing. See, the day after tomorrow I am going to have a second coronation but honestly the whole thing is dismal and again, refer back to the history books, I'm sure they will break it all down for you, my first coronation was a dud (thank you _very much_ , Kuvira, Great Uniter my exalted ass) and people were rioting over whether I was King or not so the general consensus was to put it to rest by a second official coronation and then abdicate. The life of Wu, very exciting, I tell you. At least I am in the Palace itself now and no longer in someone's borrowed Upper Ring house that smells of fish oil!  Also, no one has attempted to stick any pointy things into me lately so that's good, at least.

There was an unfortunate incident some months ago involving the representative from Gaoling and concubines and a flying bean curd pastry and the man has never forgiven me for it and goes out of his way to be particularly unpleasant. It was stifling hot in that room and I'd drunk too much tea again (and trust me, you'd think I was advocating for displays of mostly naked dancing boys in the meeting room if I just asked for a five minute pee break, honestly, do all of these people wear diapers or something? Excuse me if my royal bladder isn't up to snuff and I can't just hold it for ten hours at a stretch like the rest of them seem to) and despite the fact that we'd already been talking for six hours at that point, nothing, and I do mean nothing, had been accomplished, and I had been planning on cutting it short because I had a final fitting for my coronation outfit, and it was going to be the last meeting until after the coronation anyhow and it should tell you something about the day I was having that I wasn't even looking forward to trying on clothes. I just wanted to go back to my room and stick my head under a cold shower and pretend I was back in Zaofu and drinking a mango smoothie (oh, Chef! I do miss you!) so I admit I lost my temper a bit, and so _yes_ , I was letting Gaoling have it over the truly asinine and frankly ignorant things he was saying about the Southeast Provinces (they will be the death of me, the Southeast Provinces, they really will be) and I was feeling this wild urge to lean over and yank that stupid looking little hat right off of Gaoling's head and smack him repeatedly with it and then the Cockroach (AKA Grand Secretariat Gun) interrupted me with, “Excuse me, Your Majesty,” and yes, I said, “What is it NOW, Gun?” in a fairly sharp tone and I was so busy boring holes into Gaoling’s head with my eyes that I didn't even look over, and he said, “An important missive from Republic City has arrived, Your Majesty,” and yes, I was still angry, and so yes, I might have said, “Well then, by all means, let us all just stop everything in order to give President Raiko our FULL AND COMPLETE royal attention,” and then I swiveled around, fully intending to let someone else have it, and there he was.

There he was. I hadn't seen him in nearly a year, and he had stopped writing me and for a time there I thought I might not see him ever again.

I thought I was having a heart attack, and I am not exaggerating, my heart started to slam in my chest and I actually started to feel faint, which, by the way, was fairly alarming, I blame the heat and the tea, of course, but also, he was wearing his uniform (gloves and all) and have I ever mentioned I have a slight weakness for uniforms? No? Well. Now all history knows.

So yes, it was probably unspeakably rude for me to shout, “EVERYONE OUT! NOW! OUT!” in my most imperious and very Kingly manner, but I was genuinely afraid I would either a)faint or b)run and throw myself at him or c)both, so I channeled a bit of my great-aunt and I have to tell you, unknown future Progeny of mine, if I had known that simply shouting at people would have been that effective I would have tried it long before then.

Bless Yumi (that's my Kyoshi Warrior bodyguard, and an extremely excellent woman in her own right), I WILL give her a raise, she simply marched towards the door and held it open. They all sat there for a moment, mouths open, but then the Cockroach pulled himself together, and said, “His Majesty needs some privacy for his correspondence, I believe, let us give him the room, noble ladies and gentlemen,” so everyone shuffled out, and they were shooting him looks, believe me, but he stood there with his stern face on, not letting a single thing show. Then when they were all out of the door Yumi turned to me and said, “I'll just be outside the door here. If you and Officer Hotpants there need anything, let me know.” And she left us alone.

OFFICER HOTPANTS! I thought I would die of laughter. I won't pretend that I don't know how she knew it was Mako standing there, I had whined and boo-hoo’d to her enough times about him in all his perfection that of course she recognized him. I haven't broken the news to him yet that she will call him Officer Hotpants for now and eternity, just like she calls Tu “Unagi” after she caught him bragging to Wei Beifong once about how the musculature of his arms resembled some sort of large snake. (Or at least I sincerely hope it was his arms he was discussing, but with Tu you just never do know.) She calls me “Dumpling.” It is very disrespectful to call your Exalted Monarch “Dumpling” but that’s just how she is. Well, I do have a great fondness for dumplings. But I digress.

(I most certainly caught the side-eye glare he gave her over the Officer Hotpants comment, though.)

I was trying to pull myself together and I thought, oh, yes, right, King business, yes and then I asked him, “Ah, what was the important missive?” and he smiled that heart-stopping perfect devastating gorgeous smile at me and said, “I am,” and he could have had me right there on the spirits blessed conference table but thankfully he always had far more self-restraint than I do, because really, it would have been awkward to explain away later.

I suppose this was the moment where I should have played it cool like a mover star or whatever, but I'm only Wu, so all I could do was launch myself at him, and it was very good of him to catch me and not let me sprawl gracelessly to the floor.

I've spent a great deal of time over the years thinking about the logistics of kissing - I have a large nose, as I am sure you've noticed from photographs of me, Progeny, and I always thought, well, won't it get in the way and what do you do if you wear spectacles, won't they get knocked askew and also, what do you do if there is a sizable height difference, or how does it work if a woman is particularly large breasted? but it turns out that I didn't actually have to think about any of those things because it really was as simple as putting my lips on his. He put his arms around me and oh, you don’t know how long it was that I had wanted him to do that. Ages. Forever. All my life.

I was sorry I knocked his hat off and stepped on it, though. That being said, it was low on my priority list at that particular moment.

It was my first real kiss. Shhhh, never tell.

Unfortunately, I found that I couldn't really concentrate properly on the kiss because my brain was just spinning in circles. I had my damnable fitting for the coronation clothes and also a meeting with Zhu Li to put the final touches on the whole coronation thing (she and Varrick are filming it) and let me assure you, Progeny of mine, that once my brain starts going like that I am useless to absolutely everyone. So I pulled out of the kiss and put my hands to my head and tried to gather myself and Mako was looking at me like I had lost my mind. (Which of course happened years ago, let's be honest here.)

"Uh," he said, and I threw my arms around him again.

"No, no, it's not you, I have so many things to do today and I just can't sit around eating egg custard tarts and playing with concubines," I said, in great distraction, and of course I was actually thinking of my father and how he used to spend his days as opposed to the circumstances at hand but Mako just raised an eyebrow at me.

"Did you just call me a concubine?" he asked, and his mouth started twitching like it does when he wants to laugh but doesn't want anyone to see him actually doing it.

"What? No, no, you'd have to be wearing a lot less clothes to be a concubine, wait, I need my secretary," I said, and then I swooped in to kiss him again before running for the door. I flung it open, but luckily Yumi knows me by now and so she was standing out of its trajectory. "Yumi! I need Nuo-" I started, but Nuo was already there.

Nuo is my new secretary. Her uncle is my driver here in Ba Sing Se, and he was telling me one day about how his niece was brilliant and had gotten a scholarship to attend the very exclusive and well-regarded Black Jade Academy For Young Ladies which is normally only for the very uppiest of Middle Ring young ladies and of course Nuo comes from a Lower Ring family (well, we don't have actual Rings any longer in Ba Sing Se, but believe you me, they are still there in spirit, this city is the worst for social classes) and her family was very proud and I thought to myself, a Lower Ring girl who can make it through a school like that intact is probably exactly who I need, and sure enough, she really is. She takes absolutely nothing from anyone, not even the Cockroach, not even me! Even Yumi defers to her, and that's saying something. In fact, Yumi hasn't even given her a nickname, but refers to her as Miss Nuo. I don't think she'd actually _dare_ give Nuo a nickname. I know I certainly wouldn't.

Nuo marched right in and stood in front of me. She is a very short, plump and rather dainty person but makes up for it in a very fierce way. She had her clipboard in her hands, as per usual. She wields that clipboard the way that Yumi wields a katana. She is deadly. I have actually witnessed people hiding around corners from her when they hear her high heels echoing down the hallways. (I might have done it a few times myself.)

"Your Majesty," she said. Yumi might call me Dumpling, but Nuo insists on Your Majesty no matter how many times I have asked her to call me Wu. I could order her, I suppose, but that would sort of defeat the point.

"Nuo," I started, but she cut me off. Which is just as well. I was honestly trying as best I could to focus on the day at hand but I had kissing on the brain. Not kissing Nuo, you understand. No offense to Nuo, I'm sure. She's very nice looking if you appreciate that sort of thing. 

"I am to understand Your Majesty has a guest," she said, looking Mako up and down. Mako took half a step back. I don't blame him. Stronger men than Mako have backed away from Nuo.

"Oh yes, Nuo, this is-"

"Officer Mako, from Republic City's police force. I have been informed." She consulted her clipboard. "I have rescheduled Your Majesty's fitting for tomorrow at noon. I have taken the liberty of contacting Zhu Li to let her know that Mister Huan and myself will be meeting her this evening and she can go over any last minute issues with us. I trust that meets with Your Majesty's approval?"

Ha, like she actually waited for my approval for anything.

"Um, yes and Nuo-"

"I will make sure that Your Majesty will have dinner served in his rooms at an appropriate hour but is otherwise undisturbed. I understand that Your Majesty might appreciate a bit of the morning to himself; however, it is the day before the coronation and you really are booked up. I can give you until 8:00 am. Will that be satisfactory?"

Mako was staring at her in fascination. 

"Oh, that's lovely, Nuo." I beamed at her.

Suddenly Nuo beamed back. "I hope Your Majesty has a nice visit," she said. "Please do let me know if you require anything else." With that she stopped smiling, and waved Mako and me out of the room with both hands while saying, "Whoosh! Whoosh!" like we were recalcitrant children or perhaps turtleducks even though I know for a fact that Nuo is a year younger than me and thus several years younger than Mako, but that small consideration would never stop her, I'm sure.

Mako let himself be herded along to the Satomobile. Most people would think that he was annoyed by the look on his face, but that's actually Mako's Amused Face. You just have to know the difference, you see.

"I think we're being handled," he murmured to me as we were hustled down the hallway. Clip clip clip went Nuo's heels. She took two steps for every one step of Yumi and Mako's, both of whom are taller than me. Didn't matter. Nuo was still in front of us all.

"Oh, you're being handled right enough," said Yumi. She was on duty so she had all of her makeup on, but she was still smiling.

Out we trooped to the Satomobile, where Nuo's uncle Chen was waiting. He saluted me and then grinned at Mako. "Mako? _The_ Mako? Of the Fire Ferrets?" Chen is a huge pro-bending fan, when he found out I knew the old Fire Ferrets team on a first name basis, he got very excited. More excited than at the idea that he was ferrying the King all over the place, that's for sure. I won't even go into how he knew the Mako standing next to me was _The_ Mako, since this entire palace is a hotbed of gossip. By the time I am writing this even the cooks will be discussing it.

Yumi used to follow pro-bending on Kyoshi Island as well, so the entire ride back to my rooms (which is only a few minutes, we could easily walk but Yumi insists, security is still a nightmare here, no walls keeping out the riff-raff, you understand) was taken up by a pro-bending discussion. Nuo and I stayed out of it. Mako thawed out a little when talking about pro-bending, like he usually does. I was sitting across from him - he was next to Yumi, and Nuo was next to me - and I couldn't take my eyes off of him. Progeny, he's very handsome. You have no idea. Photographs do not do him justice. He was very nicely put together in his police uniform, too, although my goodness, he must have been sweltering. It's hot in Ba Sing Se, it's not like Republic City, which is on the sea and thus is actually fairly pleasant in the summer. Not good old Ba Sing Se, armpit of the Earth Kingdom!

My heart was pounding so hard in my chest I am certain everyone could hear it. 

Chen left us off and Nuo did something with her clipboard and Yumi went and talked to the guards on duty, pointing at Mako and me, and then she sauntered on back to us. "I let the guard know you aren't to be disturbed for any reason. I take it I can leave him in your capable hands, then?" This last was directed to Mako, who nodded at her. They had been doing some sort of complicated sizing each other up thing in the Satomobile even while talking about the pro-bending. I'm guessing it was some sort of bodyguard thing? I don't know, I've never really sized people up. Mostly I just start shooting my mouth off and hope for the best. Sometimes it even works! (Sometimes it doesn't. It never works with Firelord Izumi. NEVER.)

My rooms consist of a fairly large outer chamber which has a table and chairs and such, and then a bedroom and a very nice bathroom. They were renovated just last month - the palace was a disaster of epic proportions when I came back to Ba Sing Se last year, believe you me - and they are nice. The portrait of my mother that Huan Beifong painted for me hangs up on the wall and I have an excessive amount of pillows. Well, I don't think they are excessive - can one ever really have too many pillows? The answer is no, no they cannot, but anyhow, probably most people would think them excessive. I don't know. It doesn't feel like home, but nothing ever does to me. They are very nice rooms, though. And they don't smell like fish oil, so I will say thank you and mean it.

Nuo clipped out of the room and Yumi saluted us and closed the door behind her.

And there we were. Just the two of us.

Of course I got hit with a terrible case of nerves, and as it always happens I started to babble about I don't even know what, something excruciatingly painful about the coronation outfit, and he just watched me for a moment, flailing about like some hysterical little mover fan girl before he took his hat off and then pulled his gloves off and set them on the desk and walked over to me, put his fingers very gently across my lips and said, “I’ve been waiting very patiently and now I need to kiss you again.”

Well, even _I_ can hush for that.

I won't play coy; I have made a lot of foolish talk about my love for the ladies but I will come clear right here and now to say that before that night I had absolutely zero experience whatsoever at this kind of thing, ladies or otherwise. I'm sincerely glad that Mako did because otherwise it would be all awkwardness and banging noses. Well, there was some nose banging but he handled that very well by just reaching up with a hand and tilting my chin slightly for me. Which made things go so much better, I have to say.

 

Great-grandchild? Are you still reading? Stop it right now! Oh never mind, you won’t stop, if you are as curious as I was, you'll eagerly keep on reading. So let me just say this to you right now: I can't tell the future, and I have no idea who you’ll be or where you will be or any of that. I don't know what will happen to me, either. That said? In this moment in time, I loved this man with every single part of me. I was a little afraid, but I wasn't afraid of him. I was a little afraid of all the feelings I had, and afraid for our future together with all of our responsibilities (and see, you'll know what that future was, but I have no idea when writing this), and afraid that I would make an ass out of myself, but I trusted him to treat me with love and respect, because I'd already seen that’s how he treated the people that mattered to him. But oh, my wish for you is that you know what this feels like, loving someone so much that your heart feels like it will just explode into fireworks, bright and jagged, the kind that stays sparkling across your vision even after you close your eyes. Oh Progeny, feel that, please. Let yourself feel it. Don't be afraid.

 

“You're shaking,” he said, and I was, a little.

“C’mere,” he said, and pulled me along with him to sit down in the chair at my desk. He sat me down on his lap. “Look, nothing has to happen that you aren't ready for. You get to call the shots with this. I know this is your first time.”

I do like to think I have some dignity; however, squawking out, “It is not!” is not very dignified.

He just laughed softly in my ear. “Oh come on, Wu.”

Fine, think you know it all, _Officer Hotpants_. Hmph.

He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me back against his chest. He rested his chin on my shoulder. “I mean it. I’m not in a hurry.”

“I'm kind of in a hurry,” I grumbled, and he bit my earlobe which was EXTREMELY distracting. My goodness. I couldn't begin to even hope to sit still after that little piece of business, so to distract myself I ran my fingers along his left hand. I had noticed it when he took the glove off, obviously; the scars are hard to miss. Red feathers snarling and bursting across the entire hand, palm included, running up under his shirt cuff. The skin felt slightly rough, but nothing too bad. “Can you bend with it?”

He moved it away from me and shot a dagger of flame out of it. “Yep.”

“Lightning?”

“All present and accounted for. It’s fine. It looks bad, but it doesn't hurt at all. Itches like crazy sometimes, but there’s no pain. I’m completely back up to speed. The healer did good work with it.”

I traced down the back of it, and he held the flame steady. “Does it feel strange?” I asked. “To do that? Does it feel different, somehow?”

He slowly turned his hand palm up, and the flame shifted from a dagger to a small bloom of flame. “Well, it’s not painful, if that’s what you mean. I can burn myself if I am careless, but the flame itself doesn't hurt as I control it. It’s a matter of will more than anything else. I tell the flame what to do, and it does it.”

“I've always wondered,” I said.

He extinguished the flame and took my hand with his other hand and placed it on the scarred palm. “It doesn't heat up my skin or anything.” He took my hand away, let flame blossom again, shut it down, and put my palm immediately back down on his. “See?”

“Do you ever lose control of it?”

“Are you scared of that?”

“I just wondered.”

“It’s very very rare. I'm a good firebender, Wu. Master class. You don't need to worry about that, and I mean it. Firebenders, we control our element, not just direct it. Because of that we have to learn control very early on. I won't burn you.”

“I know you won’t. I really just wondered.”

“Okay.”

We sat there for a few more moments before I shifted myself to bury my face in his chest. “Okay, up we go, your Majesty,” he said, and stood us both up. He laid me carefully on the bed and then shifted me over so he could lay next to me.

“Shoes!” I protested, and he grinned at me.

“So very sorry, your Eminence!” He sat up and yanked off my shoes and spats and stockings, tossing them across the room with his own shoes and spats and stockings following.

“And quit calling me that,” I grumped.

“Come on, it’s not every man who can claim he had both the Avatar AND the King of the Earth Kingdom.” He nudged me with his hip.

“I don't know, I bet Aang and the rest got into some shenanigans. Lots of teenage hormones and all.”

“Mmmmm,” he said, and raised himself up on his arms to kiss me again.

He was right, I'd rather think about him than Aang. Also, he was doing this nibbling thing on my lips and I have to say, I honestly don't think I had ever paid all that much attention to that part of my body before. It was very very distracting. I started to shake a little bit again.

I had my eyes closed and suddenly his weight moved off of me. I opened my eyes to stare up into his amber ones, very close to my face. “Is it always this hot here?” he asked.

“Uh…” I managed. “Uh. Yeah. Summer. It’s hot. Very hot. Hot.”

“I think I've managed to sweat through this entire uniform. I’m dying, here.” He stood up off the bed and started to undo the buttons on the collar of his jacket. I tried to form coherent thought. Not sure I managed, but no one was requiring me to think about the Southeastern Provinces at that point, so I think we were fine.

“I hate to kill the mood, but would you be really upset if I took a shower? It was a long trip.”

I shook my head.

“I promise it will be a quick one.”

I managed a carefree hand wave. “Just check for assassins in there first.”

He scowled. “Don't remind me.” Jacket was tossed over the chair; shirt soon followed. I could see how the scars wound up his arm, a few extending past his elbow. I can't even imagine how much it must have hurt him. He caught me looking and extended his arm out from his body. “Ugly, I know.”

“I don't think it’s ugly. Also, you should see the scar on my abdomen, it’s not very pretty.”

I had no idea that this was going to be taken as an invitation, but he went to his knees by the bed. “Show me.”

“Oh…uh…well,” I said, my mind going into total panic mode. Why was I being so stupid? It’s not like the man had not seen me in my underwear before. In fact, on one very memorable occasion I got completely turned around in the steam room and lost my towel before accidentally sitting on his lap - hand to Raava, that one was actually an accident - but that’s a story for another time. It was different now, though. I don't know if it was because of the scars or because he most certainly was not being my bodyguard at the moment or what, but I came all over shy.

He sat back on his heels and looked at me and then took off his undershirt. Any brains I might have had left were gone completely at that point. It’s so unfair. Officer Hotpants! Arrest yourself for illegally good looks!

(Sorry, I know, I know. I couldn't help myself.)

Nevertheless, I am a King. I must do whatever needs to be done for my subjects. (I know he’s not technically one of my subjects, but let’s not trifle with these small details. I’m sure I could just wave a scepter at him and make it happen or something. Anyhow. Not important in the moment.) So I unbuttoned my jacket and there was the damned cravat and why was I wearing this many clothes anyhow? He reached over and pulled me to the edge of the bed and helped me along. Which is good, because my fingers had developed severe clumsiness.

I unbuttoned the buttons of my shirt and let it slide down over my left shoulder so he could see the shoulder scar first. It was the second wound that the assassin had given me. It wasn't as bad - it was a straight stab in; in fact it was Yumi who had taken the knife out after she’d killed the assassin and she knew what she was about. It was healed, but it was still fairly raw looking, though. His face went blank, and his fingers traced it gently. He didn't say anything.

The scar on my abdomen was worse. Much worse. He'd stabbed me and torn me, dragging the knife through me before ripping it out. I was lucky, and I knew it. The healer here Ba Sing Se had stitched it - he wasn't a waterbender, however, and it wasn't until I got to Zaofu that a lot of the damage had been repaired. It had looked a lot worse than how it looked now.

It still was pretty bad, puckered and twisted and raised. Ugly. Hideous.

I took out my cufflinks and automatically handed them to Mako, who just as automatically reached behind himself to place them on my night table. I slid the shirt off, just sitting in my singlet. I took a deep breath before tugging it out of the waistband of my pants and pulling it up and over my head.

He said nothing. The silence went on, and I could feel the nervous words choking themselves up my throat, and I tried to push them back down.

He splayed his own scarred hand across my scar, and stared down at his hand. My scar extended beyond his palm and fingers. “I owe your Kyoshi Yumi my thanks. Excuse me for just a moment,” he said, and then stood up and went into the bathroom.

I felt very small and very bad. I took up my singlet and yanked it back on, my hands sliding around to hug myself, the way I had when I was a child and needed reassurance.

I heard the shower go on and I sat a moment, wondering what, exactly, I should do. Should I go in there? Should I get dressed? I sat for another moment and then tentatively made my way into the bathroom. Mako stood, half-dressed, his head and shoulders underneath the spray. I reached my hand out to feel the very edge of the spray. It was icy cold.

He turned the water off and peered at me under a mop of wet hair. “Sorry, needed to calm down for a moment.” He groped for a towel and I handed him one. He wrapped his head in what I noted was a well-practiced turban. Oh Mako, you vain thing, you.

“I know it looks pretty ugly.”

“What it looks like is something that damned near killed you,” he said, and sighed. “Wu, it’s not about the scar being ugly. What do you think this is?” He waved his arm at me. “I just needed a moment to calm myself. Remember what I said about firebenders and control?”

“Oh,” I said. Intelligently said.

“Come here,” he said, and motioned for me. I came over and he put his hand over the scar, my singlet keeping guard in between. “It’s not about ugly. A scar is a scar, it means you survived. It doesn't turn me off or anything. I just hadn't realized it would be that deadly. Which was pretty stupid of me, I know he was trying to kill you, not dance with you. Anyhow. Now I’ve seen it, and now I'm calmed down, so what do you say? I could still use an actual shower. You know, with soap. You coming?”

“Into the shower?” I must have looked fairly incredulous, because he suddenly grinned at me.

“I wasn't suggesting you dunk your head in the sink.”

“No, it’s just…you have no idea. You. Me. Showers. I had many different scenarios in my head about it.”

He leaned his hip up against the wall of the shower. “Oh, really?” He looked like something from one of those romances that I not so secretly enjoyed reading, clad in just his uniform trousers, water beading down his torso. It was slightly ruined by the towel turban, but my brain was fully capable of editing that out.

I gestured around the bathroom. “Oh sure. You. Me. My suite at the Four Elements. You would be so overcome with lust that you'd just rip my clothes off of me.”

“Reeeeeeeeeeally,” he said slowly, raising one of those deadly eyebrows.

“Oh yes. It was all sort of bestial. Savage. Ping of the Sandbenders. You know.”

“Mmmm,” he said. “Then what?”

“Well, naturally you'd throw me in the shower and have your way with me.”

“Doesn't sound much like me.”

“Well, you know, since I was only about sixteen the first time, you can forgive my overactive imagination.”

“Sixteen? That was a few years ago.”

“It was.”

“And when did all of this start?”

I knew what he meant. “Oh, about twenty seconds after your boss brought you to meet me at the hotel.”

He looked surprised. “Really?”

“Really. You looked like something from a romance. All tall and polished and stern and devastatingly handsome. My nerves gave out on me completely.”

“I do remember you talking that first meeting. A lot. Non-stop. About really stupid things, sorry to say.”

“Oh, I was gone. It was all over. There was absolutely no control whatsoever, which is why it’s a good thing I'm not a firebender.”

“Mmmm,” he said, and then tugged off the turban, leaving his hair a wet and wild mess. I pointed at it.

“See, now look at that. Definite romance hair. That’s like come straight from hours of sex hair.”

He craned around me to look at himself in the mirror and then flexed, waggling his eyebrows outrageously, which made me laugh.

“Well,” he said, and then his hands were on me and he ripped my singlet right apart. I made an extremely undignified shriek.

“That was silk!”

“Buy a new one, then,” he said, and with that my feet were off of the floor and before I quite knew what was happening I was pinned up against the wall of the shower. With one hand, no less, because the other hand was turning the shower on.

Sadly, however, it was still set to icy cold, so there were two shrieks (both rather undignified, although I daresay one of us would admit to that easier than the other) and he rested his head against my chest, desperately fumbling with the taps before the water warmed up a bit. He looked up at me and laughed. “Well, I did try.”

“Mako, we're still half dressed!”

He shook his head in mock sadness. “So much for your fantasy Mako.”

“You’re an idiot,” I said, but I couldn't stop smiling. “At least let me take my pants off.”

“Good luck trying to explain the wet clothes to the house staff tomorrow morning,” he said as he fumbled with the button of his trousers. “For the record, this is a lot easier to do when the pants are actually dry.”

“Whose fault is that?” I slid the torn singlet off and draped it as nicely as possible over the wall of the shower. It was a goner.

He grinned at me, pants hanging low around his hips. “Yours, for looking at me like that.”

“Like what?”

“All big green eyes and lip biting, like you needed to be thrown against the wall and taken hard and fast. Oh! Look, you're doing it again!” He got one of his legs caught and upended himself, crashing down to one knee to the floor. “Ow! Shit!”

“Killing the mood there, buddy.” I still couldn't stop smiling.

He reached over and yanked on my ankle, pulling me down the wall as I yelped, landing half on top of him.

“Aw, you look like a drowned elephant rat with your hair all wet like that.” He was grinning, shoving my hair out of my eyes before kissing me.

I pulled away in mock-indignation. “Wait, I told you that you looked like something from a sexy romance with wet hair and in return you tell me I look like a drowned elephant rat?”

“Good point. What would Ping the Sandbender say?”

“Jade Blossom, light of my life, your beauty and grace inspires me to the greatest of poetry.”

“Mmmmmm. Wu, you’re wet, and now we're set. How’s that?”

“Keep your day job, Officer Hotpants.”

 

We did manage to get undressed, and we were so busy laughing about it that I forgot I was supposed to be feeling nervous about any of this. Progeny, this is another thing that is very important for you to know: laughing with a lover is a very very good thing.

 

“I just realized that my bags are back at where your meeting room was,” he said as he scrubbed at his scalp. “I don't have any clean clothes. Dry ones.”

“Oh, someone will have brought them over, Nuo would have told them to.”

“Mmmmm.” He stuck his head under the spray and rinsed it.

I poked him in the ribs and he yelped. “Don't be jealous of my extremely efficient secretary.”

“I’m not!”

“I don't think I believe you.”

“That’s a thing to say to a man that came this far to see you.”

“Came this far to use my shower.”

“It’s a very nice shower.”

“It really is.” I threw my arms around him and squeezed him. “I'm so happy you're here.”

“Me too,” he said, and he kissed me again, and I decided, right then and there, that taking a communal shower was the absolute best way to get clean. Better than a spa day, even.

He turned off the water and smiled down at me.

“Do you know what?” I asked.

“Mmmm?”

“Do you remember that day, the day the Kuvira supporters threw the pie at me?”

“Of course.”

“You picked me up and carried me into the Satomobile.”

“It seemed the quickest and easiest way to get you out of there. I was worried they were armed with more than pie.”

“Dead. I was dead. You have no idea. My poor brain. And damn you anyhow, you never would do it again, no matter how I asked.”

“Is this your way of saying you want me to carry you into that bed?” He was grinning in delight. I couldn't help but grin back. I’d never seen him like this before; relaxed and happy. It made him look younger, something that was only enhanced by the mop of hair dripping over his eyes, so unlike his usual slicked back style. I liked this Mako. I liked him a lot. 

He pulled me out of the shower after him and before I could say a word, swung me up in his arms.

“Ooof! Put on some weight there, Wu. It looks good on you.”

“Waterbending forms and good cooking,” I said, and flung my arms around his neck. “Shouldn't we towel off or something?”

“Meh,” he said, and kissed me.

He carried me into the bedroom and did a circuit of the room before tossing me onto the bed and throwing himself next to me.

“Hi,” he said.

“Hi,” I replied.

“You want me to stop, you tell me to stop, and we're stopping. OK?”

I shook my head. “I don't want you to stop.”

 

Now, great-grandchild, I know you are thinking, finally! Now we're getting somewhere! But the sad truth of the matter is that I don't know how to write about what happened without either sounding very clinical (which is how Kuei sounded, if I am honest, it was like him describing the times he tried to find a lady bear to mate Bosco) or making it sound like terrible prose from a particularly steamy romance (his surging manhood, I can't even seriously write that kind of thing!) so I won’t. But here’s what I will tell you:

It was my first time. I was nervous and it showed; I was too eager and too tentative all at the same time and I needed some coaching. I may not have a lot of experience but even I understand that it’s not like it is in the romances, all effortless instant perfect sailing off into the sunset. But I was with someone I loved and in that moment he did what he did best, which was to take care of me. He made me feel beautiful and perfect and loved in return, and that part was everything I had ever dreamed of.

Some of it was funny - at one point I rolled over onto my stuffed Pabu and it squeaked and Mako sat up very fast and said, in the most alarmed way possible, “Did I hurt you?” and I said, “No, no, it’s Pabu,” and the look of confusion on his face was so unexpectedly hilarious that I had to start laughing, and he reached under me and yanked out Pabu and said, “Oh for the love of Raava!” and threw it over his shoulder and then even he had to laugh a little.

I got completely overwhelmed at one point and started crying - my stress levels are so high right now that actually letting go of some of that triggered some sort of huge emotional outbreak and I was horrified, I mean, the last thing anyone wants to do is start sobbing hysterically in the middle of lovemaking and I kept trying to apologize but he just held me and whispered, “It’s okay, it’s okay, don't apologize, just let it out, I've got you,” and just let me get it out of my system.

People are made differently, Progeny of mine. Some enjoy sex for the sheer physical fun of it, and I think that’s fine. I do! I think that so long as everyone involved is a consenting adult it’s nobody’s business but their own. I'm not really made that way, however. Even though I tried very hard to make everyone believe that I was a Royal Ladykiller Extraordinaire. (I'm not really sure if anyone believed me or not, but I'll just pretend that they did.) I'm not sorry I waited for Mako. I'm not sorry at all.

It was the most beautiful and amazing night of my entire life, great-grandchild, flaws and all. My wish for you is that you find as much happiness in your own life as I did in those few hours, and then you won't need to read the smutty parts in romances in order to figure out what it is all about. (Although if you do, you might pick up a few tricks of your own. Thank you, “The Passion of the Firebender” for the little trick with the grip and the tongue, because it proved very very popular with the firebender in my life. Wow!)


	2. Early Summer, Horse Month, 26th Day, 175 AG

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which there are many different surprises; some more discombobulating than others.

Ba Sing Se  
Early Summer, Horse Month, 26th Day, 175 AG 

 

I was very happily asleep this morning (sleeping next to Mako is like sleeping next to a furnace, firebender thing I expect, and it is simply glorious, even in Ba Sing Se’s summer, and also, Mako is most definitely a cuddler and that's lovely, I've never actually shared a bed with anyone before and he's vastly preferable to my stuffed Pabu, even if he doesn't squeak) when I was very unhappily dragged out of sleep by the sound of the Cockroach’s voice at the door to my rooms. He was arguing with Yumi.

“His Majesty specified that he did not wish to be disturbed until 8:00 am, Grand Secretariat.”

“I am sure his Majesty did not mean me!”

In fact, you were the _exact_ person I did mean, Cockroach!

“His Majesty did not specify any exceptions, Grand Secretariat.” Yumi’s voice was getting a mite bit testy.

Mako sat up next to me. “What time is it?” he muttered, and fumbled on my night table for my clock. “6:00 am? Oh fuck no.” He swung out of my bed in all his naked glory, and oh let me assure you, it is glorious indeed. INDEED. And Progeny, I am not sure how much you know about grown men in the morning, but let’s just say that they are usually fairly grown and leave it at that, my goodness. He stomped across my bedroom and through the outer room and flung open the door.

There was the sound of shocked sputtering. I assume it was the Cockroach. Yumi does not universally admire the male form and also? I sincerely doubt if she has ever sputtered in her entire life.

“Is it 8:00 am yet, Kyoshi Yumi?” he demanded in his most Mako tone, which is to say very cold and hard and all sort of Dectective-ish. Very arousing, might I add. Not that I needed help at that particular juncture in time.

“I apologize for the intrusion,” she said. “I did try to tell the Grand Secretariat that His Majesty did not wish to be disturbed.”

“You! YOU! You can’t be in His Majesty’s bedroom! You're the messenger! You're a CRIMINAL!” Poor Cockroach. I couldn't see his face, but his voice was beyond scandalized. I hoped he wasn't going to have a stroke or anything, that wouldn't make for a very festive coronation.

“Go away,” suggested Mako, and by suggested I mean he made it sound very threatening. (I bet he learned that from his time in the Triads, which I found out about by grilling Tu, who heard all about it from Bolin. I know I shouldn't make anyone into a fantasy, Progeny, but I really do feel I can be forgiven for having a few of them occasionally late at night when I am alone, and there is one particularly detailed one that involves Mako as a Triad Boss and me as some poor innocent upstanding wealthy citizen he has kidnapped for ransom. Huh. Maybe I should mention this to him, he did not seem at all opposed to getting his Ping the Sandbender on last night. Anyhow, note for later.)

Poor Cockroach garbled out something about His Majesty and scandal and I don't even know what, the man could not even find his words, and frankly, I am not sure I could have found words either if faced with an angry naked morning Mako and I could hear his voice retreating.

“Shall I have them send breakfast in at 8:00, then?” asked Yumi.

“Yes. Thank you,” said Mako, and he stalked back through the outer room into the bedroom. Yumi stood behind him in the outer room door and gave him a very slow once over.

“Well done, Dumpling. Very well done indeed.” She winked at me and shut the door.

Even Yumi could appreciate a naked morning Mako, so that’s telling you something.

“Hurumph,” grunted Mako and he crawled back into bed. He reached over with one arm and yanked me towards him. “No wonder you call him the Cockroach.” He closed his eyes.

My eyes were most certainly not closed. “Mako?”

“Mmmm?”

“We have two hours before they are going to bring us breakfast.”

“Mmmmmm.”

“We could go back to sleep, I guess. Or we could…. _not_ go back to sleep.”

He opened one eye to peer over at me.

“Ah,” he said. And then he opened both eyes.

 

 

I would like to state something for the (unofficial gossipy) record: Mako might actually spend more time getting ready in the morning than I do. Oh, he’ll deny it, but it’s true. There is shaving and hair pomading and eyebrow pomading (no, I am not joking!) and careful dressing and making sure everything is presentable.

This is my nice way of saying that the man really is rather vain.

Well, if I looked like that I'd be vain as well. Well, of course, I am myself vain, but I just meant that he has more reason to be vain than I do, if we're being completely truthful here.

I did my waterbending forms - I've gotten into the habit by now, and if I didn't do them I think my day would start off all wrong - and he watched me for awhile. It didn't bother me - part of doing them is to get yourself into a meditative state, and I'm pleased to note that even Mako didn't distract me from that. After a while, though, he disappeared into the bathroom and then the primping began.

They brought breakfast in at 8:00 and then it was time to face the music.

“Mako?”

“Mmmm?”

“I actually do have my day pretty much booked up today.”

“Not surprising, seeing what you are doing tomorrow.”

“But you can come with me if you want. If you don't want to then I understand completely.”

“Why wouldn't I want to?”

“Uh. Well. Most of today is a quick coronation rehearsal and then a final fitting for my coronation clothes and then going to the spa.”

He just stared at me.

“Is it any consolation to know that this is actually my first spa trip since I left Republic City?”

“Not really, no.”

I shrugged at him. What can you do?

He sighed. “Fine. I’ll come with you.” He walked over to the desk and tugged on his left glove.

I frowned. "Do you always wear that?"

He nodded. "When I go out. The hand is pretty sensitive to temperature, it aches if it gets too cold. Too much air on it and the itching makes me crazy. The skin gets really dry, too, and that does bother me. Plus people tend to stare." He shrugged. "It's not a big deal."

"Okay," I said and dropped the subject.

At that point there was a knock at the door. It was Huan, come to escort me to the rehearsal. He peered sideways at Mako out of the curtain of his hair. “Did he really yell at the Cockroach naked?”

I nodded, and I couldn't help grinning. “He really did.”

Huan smiled, one of his rare smiles. “I’m sorry I missed that.”

Yumi waved me out the door. “Come along, Dumpling. You too, Officer Hotpants, come if you are coming, Dumpling has places to be and people to see today.”

Mako glared at her. “Is it really necessary to call me Officer Hotpants?”

“Oh, after that little display this morning, I'd say it was _entirely_ necessary.”

Forgive me for laughing, Mako. I still love you. _Officer Hotpants_.

 

We got to the part of the Palace where the coronation was going to be held. Nuo was there already, clipboard in hand. Since it was summer, they decided to hold it in the amphitheater area, and had set up far more seats than normal. I was more than a little concerned that there only seemed to be one section of seats that were covered from the sun; it really is unbearably hot in the summer and many of the people attending would most likely be elderly. I spoke to both Nuo and Zhu Li about it and they promised to see if some sort of temporary shelter could be set up.

Varrick seemed completely astonished to see Mako there, but Zhu Li took it in stride. I am fairly certain that absolutely nothing gets past Zhu Li. (I am also fairly certain that she has never sputtered in her life, either.)

I was walked across the stage, microphones were adjusted, the orchestra was deemed too loud and moved back accordingly, so on and so forth. Frankly, I just went where people told me to go, it's really just easier that way. Mako had taken off his jacket and rolled up his sleeves and was perched in one of the seats next to the stage, eyes closed. I'm sure he was bored out of his mind. I know I was.

At one point, Zhu Li stopped to take a drink of water, and Huan frowned at her.

“Is that adequate water consumption?”

She looked at him, slightly confused. “Excuse me?”

He gestured in her general direction. “When my mother was pregnant with my brothers she told me that pregnant women need plenty of water and rest. You don't seem to be getting very much water or rest.”

There was a bit of a thunderstruck silence as everyone stared at Huan. He looked nonplussed. “Perhaps you've had more water earlier.”

Zhu Li put her hand to her belly. “I…I’m not pregnant.”

Huan frowned again. “Certainly you are. I saw the baby last night. Well. Not saw it like the eyes see it, saw it like the foot sees it.” He closed his eyes and stamped his foot to the ground, the metal sole of his boot retracting. “Yes, very clear. The baby has a heartbeat, I can see it.” He waved his hands in the air, searching for the words. "I can see the heartbeat mixing with yours. Ba-boom ba-boom ba-boom." He clapped his hand against his heart to demonstrate.

Zhu Li’s eyes widened. “Oh,” she said, and looked down at herself. “I was late, but I just thought with all of the traveling and stress…” she tapered off, putting her other hand to her belly. “Oh.”

Huan held out an arm solicitously to her, and she took it absently. He led her over to one of the shaded areas and sat her down. “Adequate water and rest,” he said, and poured her another glass of water. “My mother said so, and she’s very experienced.”

“Hey Zhu Li, no sitting down on the job!” yelled Varrick over from one of the platforms where the cameras were set up. Zhu Li ignored him, which caused him to leap off of the platform and come striding over. “What’s the matter? Are you sick or something?” He spoke in his usual loud and bossy tone, but I could see concern in his face.

“Well,” she said, and adjusted her glasses. “It’s been brought to my attention that I'm pregnant.”

Varrick stared at her. “That can't possibly be true.”

“I saw the heartbeat,” said Huan helpfully.

“He felt it through his seismic sense,” translated Mako, even more helpfully.

Varrick stared at her for a moment and then went to his knees, thrusting his ear against her belly. “Really? Truly?”

“Well, I would assume a Beifong knows what he’s talking about. I was late, but I just passed it off to all of the travel and stress of the past few months, it hasn't been the first time it’s happened to me.” She twisted her fingers through his hair.

“Are you in there?” Varrick demanded of her belly.

Zhu Li thumped his head gently. “It’s not like she can answer you, Iknik.”

“And here I thought you were just putting on a few Zhu Lis,” he crowed, kissing her belly. “Well! This changes everything!” He jumped up. “Hey! You!” He pointed at one of the mover camera operators, who looked alarmed to be singled out. “Come here! You're my Zhu Li for today!” The camera operator reacted in horror, stepping backwards and shaking his head violently.

“Iknik, I am perfectly capable!”

Varrick whirled around, thrusting his finger into the air. “Absolutely not! Not going to happen! You’re going back to Republic City today!” He advanced on the camera operator, who looked like he was going to run for the hills at any given second.

Zhu Li looked after her husband, sighed deeply and finished her water. “Thank you, Huan, for letting me know.”

Huan looked at the ground. “Ah, well, anything to be of assistance.” I could see by his face that he didn't know what to say.

So could Zhu Li, apparently, because she smiled at him and said, very gently, “I’m glad you remembered such good advice from your mother,” and that got her a little smile in return. “Well, I had better go deal with this. Excuse me.” She walked towards the platform, where the camera operator was actually running away from Varrick, who was running after him, shouting at him to stand still and Zhu Li up.

 

We all trooped back to my rooms for the fitting. Nuo made sure there was food, of course; and naturally, because there was going to be food, Tu showed up. He seemed mildly surprised to see Mako. Since mildly surprised is about the strongest emotion Tu ever shows, I think Mako being there was unexpected.

"Mako. Whoa. What are you doing here?"

Apparently Tu does not keep up with Palace gossip. Some of that might be due to the fact that he frequents some of the more seedier places in Ba Sing Se (he has old friends down in the Lower Ring area, even if he does have a room up here in the Palace) and spirits know what he does during his nights. I don't know and furthermore, I don't really want to know. Let's just say that his mother is very hopeful for grandchildren but I am pretty sure that a myriad of little Tu's spread across the Earth Kingdom is not what she has in mind and leave it at that.

Mako looked at Tu irritably. "Well, what do you think I'm doing here?"

"Did you come for lunch? I came for lunch."

"You think I came all the way from Republic City for _lunch_?" 

"Well, they put out a pretty good spread here, but you could probably get something just as good back there."

Mako did that thing where he pinches the bridge of his nose instead of lighting people who are particularly trying his patience on fire. "Tu, you moron, I didn't come here for lunch."

"Well, sure, that's what I was saying."

"I can't stand it," Mako said, and he got up and went to go look out a window. "I cannot believe we are related."

"Pretty sure he came here for Dumpling," Yumi clarified.

"Wait, are there dumplings?" Tu gave the table where the food was set out a hopeful look.

Mako muttered a few words that would have caused his grandmother to wash his mouth out with soap, I am _certain_.

"Stop your foolishness, Tu," said Nuo sharply. "Officer Mako came here to visit His Majesty and attend the coronation." Nuo has less than zero patience with Tu.

"Oh. OH! Well, that makes a lot more sense." Tu reached over to snag and pop a fritter into his mouth with his fingers.

"Chopsticks! Use the chopsticks! When is the last time you washed those paws?" asked Huan with evident disgust.

The assistant who was currently taking in a tiny part of the hem on my coronation robe was so busy staring at this entire exchange that she accidently stabbed me with the needle.

"Yowch!" I said.

The assistant immediately dropped to the floor, holding herself in a crouch, head down. I stared down at her, and then looked back up at Yumi helplessly. The head of the design house hurried to bow nearly to the floor in front of me. "Your Majesty! Please accept my abject apologies! She will of course be immediately let go!"

"What now?" I said, looking around me. "Who's letting who go?"

"That unworthy seamstress will be let go immediately, without references," he replied, still in his bow. The assistant was still crouched down on the floor, trembling.

I crouched down next to her, which was not that easy in the coronation robe, it is all over embroidery and fairly stiff. "Oh, please, it was just an accident. I got stabbed by an actual knife last year, if you want to talk about stabbings! No, really, it's fine, it just surprised me, that's all. I'm fine. Please. Get up. Please." She was still shaking, and I attempted a little pat on her back. At that point she started sobbing. I looked up for help. "Oh, please don't cry, truly, everything is fine."

"She caused you harm, Your Majesty. It is against the law. I know it is punishable by death, but I hope for some mercy for her. She is quite young," the head of the design house swallowed thickly, "and she is my sister's youngest child."

I went all cold and stood back up.

Nuo handed her clipboard to Huan and came to stand next to me. "His Majesty is not going to punish anyone. His Majesty is not like his predecessor Hou-Ting LIII. He is a very kind man and does not wish anyone any harm at all. You must believe me, now, and stop crying. There will be no letting go of anyone today." She turned her fiercest gaze onto the head of the design house. "His Majesty does not wish anyone to be let go or in any other way held accountable for this slight mishap. Is that not correct, Your Majesty?"

I stood there for a moment. "Consider the entire incident forgotten," I said. "We do not consider it having happened at all."

The head of the design house bowed to me several times. "Your Majesty is all mercy and kindness and compassion."  He leaned over to nudge his niece. "What do you say to His Majesty," he hissed.

She leapt up and bowed to me again and again. "Thank you, Your Majesty. Thank you, thank you."

I could feel the tears coming, but I held them back and stood very straight. Kings do not cry, which was a lesson that had been taught to me from the first. "If we are finished here?"

"Of course, Your Majesty, please, let me assist in removing your robe. We will finish the few last adjustments and deliver it later this evening, if that is acceptable to Your Majesty." The head of the design house practically fell all over himself.

"It is acceptable," I said, staring at the wall. I couldn't bear to look anyone in the eye. I moved my arms so the robe could be removed and stood there while the man and his niece bowed to me several more times before gathering their things and backing out of my room. After Yumi shut the door behind them I walked into my bedroom door and shut it behind me.

Then I threw myself onto the bed and stuck my face in one of my pillows and cried.

I heard the bedroom door open and close quietly, and felt the edge of my bed sag. Then a very warm hand started to rub my back. I turned over, and looked at Mako. "I hate this city. I hate it. I hate it."

He nodded at me. "I would hate it too, if it were me."

"I never wanted this. Never."

"Yeah, I know you didn't." He leaned forward to kiss me on the temple. "I would tell you to just hang in there a little while longer, but that probably wouldn't be all that helpful, would it?"

"Not really, no."

"Well, I'll tell you that I'm sorry it's so difficult for you and leave it at that, then. I am sorry."

I scrubbed at my eyes and sniffled. "Now my eyes are all red and puffy, aren't they?"

"Little bit, yeah."

"Great, just great." I sighed.

"So is it really illegal to injure the King?"

"Or Queen. Yes. Technically speaking, you aren't allowed to touch them at all without permission, and if you cause any kind of bodily harm, imprisonment is the best you can hope for. If you purposely hurt an Earth Monarch it is punishable by death." I frowned unhappily. "That particular law as old as the Hou-Ting Monarchy."

"This is probably the wrong time, but can I tell you something?" He looked down at me.

"Uh, sure?"

"You doing that whole King thing?" He tilted his head up and looked very condescending, to demonstrate. Damn him anyhow, he even makes a better looking King than I do.

"Yeah?"

He leaned in very close and whispered into my ear. "Total turn on. Made me really hot." He bit my earlobe.

I jerked involuntarily - that earlobe thing might actually be the death of me, seriously, I had no idea at all that my earlobes would betray me this way - and then pulled back to look at him incredulously. "You're kidding me, right?"

He shook his head. "Nope. Not kidding in the least. I was really glad no one was looking at me at that moment, because...yeah. Well. Because."

I could feel my eyebrows going up. 

He tapped the edge of my nose with his finger, several times, very deliberately. "Just something to keep in mind."

Oh, I will be keeping it in mind, let me _assure_ you.

He pulled me up to a sitting position. "Come on, Your Majesty. Let's get you some lunch, because according to the extremely efficient Miss Nuo, you have exactly a half hour and then off to the spa you go."

I shrank back a little bit. "Is everybody still out there?"

"Yeah, they are all there. No, don't look like that. Wu, the people in that next room? Those people know you. They _like_ you. They get it, even that idiot cousin of mine. They aren't judging you. Come on. You'll see I'm right."

He pulled me to my feet and into the outer room. Everyone was sitting at the table, eating lunch, even Nuo. They all very kindly pretended not to notice my puffy face. 

I sat down next to Huan and he slid a plate over. "We saved you all the best dumplings," he said, and handed me a pair of chopsticks. 

"Thanks, Huan," I said, and he very carefully nudged his shoulder against mine.

 

I did go to the spa after we all finished lunch. The Blushing Peony. Madame Peony (not her real name, I will lay yuan) was an extremely buxom lady of certain years who had cleared the entire spa for me. I will confess to you, Progeny, that I do appreciate a visit to the spa. I came out polished and buffed and softened and clipped. (I don't even wish to discuss what the humidity in Ba Sing Se does to my hair. I look like a poodle monkey. It is not even funny.) Tu tried a mud bath, but complained so vociferously about getting mud in certain parts of his anatomy that someone (I'm not pointing fingers or anything, but I believe the initials HB might mean something) stuck him in the mouth with a mudpie. Well, it shut him up for awhile, so we were all grateful, I'm sure.

Madame Peony took one look at Mako and sat him right down and rubbed a salve into his hand and arm that she claimed would soothe the itch that he gets from his scars. (Not that I blame her for doing it herself; she had an entire staff of people there to wait on us but I'm sure I'd use any excuse to rub all over Mako, and I don't even need an excuse!) It had a pleasant sort of herb smell, and based on the blissed out look on his face after she smoothed it on, it actually worked. He kept surreptitiously sniffing himself, too. I was going to say something about it to Nuo, but before I could even get my mouth open she just silently showed me her clipboard where she had written,  _Procure more Madame Peony salve for Officer Mako._

I took her pen and wrote, _He needs new gloves for the left hand. That fit better and are weather appropriate. The one he has now won't do._

She took the pen back. _Consider it done, Your Majesty._

Never leave me, Nuo.

 

When we got back to my rooms there was a missive letting me know that pretty much everyone that I knew personally had arrived already: Korra had returned (bringing Asami), the entire Beifong clan was represented (sans Toph and Baatar Jr, of course), all world leaders present and accounted for and Tenzin had brought along his family as well. There was nothing there about Mako’s family, however, and before I could even ask Nuo she had clipped out of the door to go and track them down. I know that they aren't considered world class and august personages, but they were here on my special invitation, and I wanted to make sure they were settled and comfortable.

There was a great deal of noise at the doors of my chambers and Huan looked up with a slight smile. “My brothers are here,” he said. Yumi opened the door to the outer room and in bounced Wei, followed by a slightly more subdued Wing.

“HUAN!” bellowed Wei, and flung himself across the room. There were hugs given all around. Much to my surprise and utter and complete delight, I was a recipient of Beifong Twin hugs as well. They both greeted Mako enthusiastically and there were several arm and shoulder punches traded back and forth with Tu. (And what I consider a highly unnecessary headlock from Wei, as well. I See You, Wei Beifong.) The next thing I knew they were all three of them rolling about on my (brand new and very expensive) rug. Huan sighed and shook his head. 

Nuo returned and let me know that Mako’s family had been ensconced in one of the nicer suites in the repaired part of the palace (I had specified a swanky room for Grandma Yin because I knew she'd appreciate it) and she waved to get Tu's attention.

"Tu," she said. He did not respond. Nuo frowned, and clipped over to rap him on the head with her pen. Have I mentioned that Nuo has five older brothers? She does, and was clearly not very impressed with half-grown men wrestling about on my (brand new and very expensive) rug. "Tu! Stop that right now and get up and pay attention to me!" she demanded severely, the hand not holding her clipboard settled firmly on her hip. 

All three of them immediately stopped what they were doing. Tu and Wei shot up to their feet, but Wing stayed frozen in place on the rug, staring up at her.

"Are you a child?" she said, standing up on her tiptoes to throw another thwack to Tu's head. "And on His Majesty's brand new rug! Really!" She turned her gaze to Wei. "You must be one of the Beifong twins." Her tone said _exactly_ how she felt about Beifong twins rolling about on my rug. (Hint: Not positively.)

"That one's Wei," said Huan mildly.

"On His Majesty's brand.new.rug," she repeated to Wei, who hung his head.

"Sorry," he mumbled.

Wing hadn't moved. He was still staring up at her, mouth gaping open like a koi. Wei kicked him, none too gently. "What's wrong with you? Get up!"

"Guuuuh," replied Wing. Nuo frowned down at him and he moaned. 

"That one's Wing," added Huan.

"I see," said Nuo, slowly. "Are you injured?"

Wing made a strangled noise.

"Do you need assistance?" Nuo raised an eyebrow.

Wing opened his mouth, but nothing came out. Oh dear.

"Oh now, that's one of the saddest things I've ever seen," said Yumi, shaking her head from her spot by the door. "Someone go and do something for that poor boy."

Mako shook his head back at her before getting up and grabbing Wing by his tunic, yanking him up. "Come on, big guy," he said, and walked him over to a chair, pushing him so that he sat down. Wing looked at Mako, who patted him sympathetically on the shoulder. "It happens that way sometimes," he said.

I'll say it does. _Officer Hotpants_.

Seeing that Mako apparently had Wing in hand, Nuo turned back to Tu. "Your family has arrived, and your father is asking for you."

Tu stared at her uncomprehendingly.

"Whoosh! Whoosh!" she said, complete with the hand waving towards the door.

"Oh, right," said Tu amiably. "So hey, I guess I'll see you tomorrow, everybody. Don't do anything I wouldn't do!" 

"Perish the thought," replied Huan, and with a thumbs up Tu strolled out the door that Yumi held open for him.

Wei was frowning at his twin. "What's the matter with you, loser?"

Wing didn't answer, just stared at Nuo.

"Are you sick or something? Because you better not get me sick if you are." Wei glared.

"And here everyone always says that I'm the one in the family that never sees what's past my own nose," Huan said to no one in particular.

"Well _anyway_ ," Wei said, with another side-eye at his twin, before looking over at Huan. "We came because Mom is hoping you'll join us tonight for dinner.”  Huan glanced over at me.

“By all means, please go, and please give my regards to your parents. I'll see you tomorrow,” I said, and Huan stood up. He walked over to Wing and poked him.

"Come on, Wing," he said, and Wing blinked at him. Huan sighed and pushed him up. "Come on, Wei," and Wei joined him, still glaring at his twin. Wing tried to walk while simultaneously staring back at Nuo and stepped on the back of Wei's boot.

"Dammit, Wing! Watch where you're walking!" Wei smacked him one upside the head.

"Ow! Knock it off," said Wing, reaching over to smack him back and Huan put out both hands, gathered a twin by the collar in each one, and propelled them out the door. 

"Please forgive us our manners," Huan said, long suffering, over his shoulder, and out they went.

Nuo looked up from her clipboard. "Is there some sort of...issue...with the other twin?" She sounded very sympathetic.

"If by _issue_ you mean is he lovestruck, then yeah," said Yumi.

Nuo blinked and was silent for a moment. "Oh," she said, and then, "Oh _. Oh._ "  She stared at her clipboard for another long moment before tapping her pen slowly on it. "Wing, you say?"

"Wing," I agreed.

Nuo wrote something down on her clipboard. Just at that moment there was another knock at the door, and Yumi opened it to take delivery of dinner.

"Okay, Miss Nuo," said Yumi, "I think it's time for you and me to take our leave. I'm going to sharpen everything that needs to be sharpened and maybe take a swim before turning in. You got our Dumpling, here?"

Mako nodded. 

"Night guard's here, so sing out if you need anything. Dumpling, I will see you bright and early tomorrow morning."

"6:00 am," said Nuo. "I do apologize for the early wake-up, Your Majesty, but there's a lot to do."

"No worries, I understand," I said. "Good night Yumi, and you too, Nuo." As they both started to walk away I added, "And thank you. Both of you. So much. I really am grateful for everything you do for me."

Yumi cocked me a wink before heading out the door. Nuo gave me one of those brilliant smiles. "Good night, Your Majesty."

The door shut behind them. Mako ambled over to the table and took off his glove before picking up one of the covers on the food, peering down at it. "This smells good."

I could feel my heart starting to go on me. "I don't think I can eat anything."

"You sure? Because look, there's fritters."

I started to pace around in circles. It had been a very long day, and I still wasn't recovered from having the needle stuck in me. Well, not from the needle part, that hadn't even really hurt, just surprised me. The other part about it. Well, you know what I mean. "I think this is a mistake," I said.

"What's a mistake?"

"This. All of this. Me even coming here. I hate it here, I hate Ba Sing Se and I hate being a King and I hate coronations and I hate coronation robes and I hate people bowing at me and I hate the Southeastern Provinces and I hate Gaoling and his stupid hat and I hate the Cockroach and I hate this Palace..."

I went on like this for awhile. Meanwhile, Mako rummaged around my bedroom until he found a spare blanket, laid it down over my (brand new and very expensive) rug and then carefully put the dinner tray down on the blanket. He arranged himself on the blanket, looked at me, and patted it invitingly.

"...and I hate the way everyone runs away from me...what are you doing?"

“Picnic,” he said, patting the blanket next to him again. “Come on. Sit with me.”

I threw myself down. “I can’t eat. Too nervous.”

He said nothing, but fished through the dinner. “See, octopus fritters, your favorite!” He took one up in his chopsticks, and put it to my mouth. I automatically opened my mouth and he popped it in. “Still warm, too. Very nice.”

“I guess,” I said, rudely. Kings were not supposed to talk with their mouths full. Well, technically I expect they are not supposed to sit on the floor with foreign policemen either, so.

He continued to feed me little bits and pieces while feeding himself, ignoring my theatrics. Although I will say, Progeny, I really was terribly nervous. I wasn't pretending about it. I did like him feeding me, though. Forgive your great-grandfather his little peculiarities, please.

“You have sauce on your chin,” he said, and wiped it off. “There, now. Better?”

I nodded. “I really am nervous, you know.”

“I know you are,” he said, and sprang up to put the remains of the dinner tray back on the table. “Up,” he ordered, and held his hand down, swinging me up off the floor without any effort. He sniffed me. “You know, you actually smell really good.”

“Well, that’s what a spa day will do for you,” I said.

“Yeah, I remember. From before.”

I pointed at him. “Wait just a minute. Did you notice how I smelled before?”

He looked taken aback for a moment and then laughed a little. “You know, I guess I did. You always smelled good after one of your spa trips. I noticed, definitely.”

“HA!” I yelled, thrilled to my toes.

He grinned. “What can I say? You did smell good.”

I danced a little around the room. “You noticed! You noooooooticed!”

Now he was laughing. “I did.”

“Years! Years worth of trying to get you to notice me!”

He caught me as I twirled past him, and pulled me close. “I noticed you. I had feelings about it. I told you, I’m bad with feelings. My usual way of dealing with feelings is to just not deal with them.”

“I’m sure no one has ever noticed that about you. Ever. No one.”

“Smartass,” he said and kissed me.

I pulled back from him. "Mako, do you think I am making a mistake?"

He looked at me seriously. "I don't know, Wu. I'm no good with politics. I don't like them and I don't know how to play that particular game. I can't offer you any useful advice about it, although I sincerely wish I could. What I can say, though, is that it seems like you have the support of the other world leaders. Right?"

I nodded.

"Well, I wouldn't give you half a yuan for Eska and Desna, but I'd trust Tenzin with my life. The same goes for Tonraq. And I don't really like Raiko, but he does know how to play the political game, I'll give him that. Izumi is a brilliant stateswoman in her own right. Su Beifong is no one to fuck with either. Korra's about as political as I am, but she supports you, and the support of the Avatar is pretty damn useful. So when it comes to the political part of it, I'd say that the right people are on your side and that's a pretty good sign." He took my chin in his hand. "On a personal level? Wu, I am completely biased, but you are one of the best people I know. I know you are doing this with the best of intentions and with a good heart, and I trust that. I know that's probably not the answer you want, but it's the only one I have to give you."

I threw my arms around him. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. Now. I have a question for you."

"Okay?"

"Have you been a very good King today?" He raised an eyebrow inquiringly at me.

"Um...yes?"

"Excellent. Then I can give you the surprise I brought for you."

I bounced up and down in his arms. “Oh! Surprise! I love surprises!”

He smiled. “I know. That’s why I brought one. Hang on.” He disentangled himself from me and and rummaged in his bag. “Hey! Where’s my suit? My good suit?”

“Oh, Nuo told them to take it, they'll press it and bring it tomorrow morning.”

He gave me a look. “Mmmmmm.” He went back to digging in the bag. “Ah, got it. Close your eyes and hold out your hands.”

I immediately did so.

“Okay, here.” I felt something placed into my hands. “You can open your eyes now.”

I looked down to see a book. "Sandstorms in the Desert" the title read, in a rather florid script. I gasped. “No! It can’t be! How did you get it! I thought it didn't come out until next month!”

He was smiling broadly. “It doesn’t. But the author ordered a customized Satomobile from Asami and I asked her if she could maybe get an early copy for you. Look inside.”

I opened it up, and it had been inscribed and signed by the author. _For His Majesty, King Wu, on his Coronation. The Earth Kingdom’s Very Own Desert Lord._

Tears pricked at my eyes. “Oh! Oh, it’s the best present _ever_.” I clutched it to my chest. “Thank you. Thank you!”

He hadn’t stopped smiling. “I figured you'd be nervous tonight, so I thought maybe we could read some of it. Well, you can do the reading, I’m not the best at reading aloud. Pretty slow and the big words trip me up a little, you know.”

“I am an _excellent_ reader,” I babbled. “Come on, let’s read it!”

So here is what the history books will not record, Progeny. On the night before my second coronation, we piled up all of the pillows on the bed (not forgetting the stuffed Pabu) and lounged in the hot Ba Sing Se summer evening and I read the book aloud, while he rested his head on my hip and made occasional editorial comments. And if after one particularly heated passage my book was carefully placed on the nightstand along with the stuffed Pabu before we made our own sandstorm in Ba Sing Se, well, I suppose no one reading this is surprised by now.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I ended up cutting the part I wrote about Wu reading "Sandstorms in the Desert" to Mako at the end of this chapter. That being said, I decided to go ahead and post it anyhow in my drabble catch all piece. If you want to read it before heading into the next chapter, here's the link! 
> 
>  
> 
> [ A Very Brief Interlude: Reading “Sandstorms in the Desert.”](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4068133/chapters/9157390)


	3. Early Summer, Horse Month, 27th Day, 175 AG

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which a coronation happens; also dancing. And a few more surprises.

Ba Sing Se  
Early Summer, Horse Month, 27th Day, 175 AG  
Coronation Day

 

This morning I got up very early - Mako was still sound asleep - and I did my waterbending forms. That waterbender healer was right, you know. They do help me calm down and feel more grounded. Well, as calm as I am ever going to get, that is. I'm no Mako, just so we're all clear. (I think we're all pretty clear on that.)

I opened the bedroom door and crept out into the outer room. Mako's best suit - the one I helped him pick out back in Republic City two years back, the one that _wasn't_ that unflattering shade of green he seemed to prefer, thank you _very_ much - was hanging there, nicely pressed. I noted that a single glove of the supplest and butteriest and thinnest leather possible in a color that exactly matched the suit was hanging there as well. Nuo. She's never failed me yet. I didn't even need to see him put it on to know it would fit perfectly. I'd also lay odds that he'll be going back to Republic City with an entire collection of new gloves.

But I can't think about him going back so I'm not going to write a single word more about that.

My coronation clothing was there as well. I'd compromised: I had a suit made, but for the coronation part itself I'd take off the suit jacket and wear an open robe. The robe was truly beautiful - royal yellow, of course, embroidered all over with the flora and fauna and symbols of the Earth Kingdom, with a pompously long train. I'm not going to share this with anyone else, Progeny, but I felt very sad looking at it. It's the kind of thing that would be considered an heirloom of the crown. What will happen to it later? Packed away in a trunk somewhere to be pulled out one hundred years from now, smelling of mothballs and put up for display in a dusty old Ba Sing Se museum? Just like me, I suppose. Who has any use at all for an abdicated King? What will I be if I am no longer a King? I don't know. I just don't know.

I do try not to dwell on these sorts of things, but even I can become prey to melancholia every once in awhile.

I didn't really have much time to dwell on anything, though, because at that point there was a knock on my outer room door and the rest of the morning was a whirl of getting ready; people coming in and out of my bedroom waving things and brushing and spraying and primping. Mako made his escape early, telling me he was going to find his brother (who'd arrived with Opal and Tenzin’s family) and get a good seat. He kissed me in front of everyone, quickly dodging around the hairstylist as he tried to make his way out the door. The glove fit perfectly, naturally, and before he left he held his gloved hand up and raised an eyebrow. I just smiled at him, and he smiled back. _Thank you_ , he mouthed at me, and then he was gone.

Nuo was already at the amphitheater, making sure everything was running smoothly. The only one left to me was Yumi, who was looking particularly starched and official, her makeup flawless and her posture straight. She winked at me when I made eye contact with her.

I did try to eat breakfast, but all I could manage was tea.

Finally we were ready to go. Yumi made her way next to me, and the rest of the guards took their places, ceremonial uniforms on. Yumi put her hand on my shoulder. “You ready, Dumpling?” she asked quietly.

I nodded.

She gestured and we started to walk out.

The sun was dazzling today, there wasn't a cloud in the sky. I was already hot before I even got to where the coronation was going to be held. There’s something to be said for a spring coronation, I'll bet. Also, that robe was gorgeous, but it probably weighed more than I do and it was, as they say, a trifle warm. 

Once we got to the stage itself, I looked around. The seats were full, and bless Zhu Li and Nuo, between the two of them they had managed to find some cover. Not enough for everyone, but at least there was something. I could see the other world leaders sitting in the very front; Izumi caught my eye and nodded and Tenzin gave me a smile. Raiko looked like he wanted to be anywhere else than where he was (although I think he just usually looks like that). Korra flashed me a cheeky thumbs up, sitting next to her father. Eska and Desna sat on the other side of Tonraq, dressed in furs and robes. I have absolutely no idea how they managed it; I was already sweltering. Behind them were the Beifongs (Lin included), Tenzin’s wife and children (including Kai), Asami sitting with Mako (who smiled at me when he caught my eye, and there went my heart) and Bolin was sitting next to Opal, who was next to her mother. Huan was there as well with the twins, and I got a faint wave from him. I couldn't see Grandma Yin or Tu or the rest of their family, though, so I craned my head looking for them. I found them a few rows over to the right - Meng-Meng had a very chubby girl sitting in her lap and Chow Sr was attempting to hold on to an extremely squirmy toddler with a shock of black hair somewhat tamed into an enormous green bow. Mako's rescued babies, of course.

I frowned. I could see that Yin had no shelter from the sun whatsoever. LiLing was trying to shade her with a fan, but that wasn't going to do. Not at all. I didn't see Nuo anywhere so I motioned over one of the palace pages and pointed them out to him, trying to explain that I wanted them moved, but he was less than helpful. Mostly he just kept stammering “Your Majesty!” at me, which was not really the response I was hoping for.

Suddenly I heard a terrible screeching noise. I looked over to see Huan standing in front of the section where Yin and family were sitting. He was pulling at the air with his hands and arms, and I will be damned if he wasn't pulling the metal skeleton of the temporary cover over so that it would cover Yin.

The entire thing - all six large and heavy metal poles, set into the ground, topped by a crisscrossing of metal poles and heavy fabric - rose up gently into the air and then moved over. It then settled back down to the ground before audibly locking into place, without even disturbing a hair on Yin - or anyone else’s - head. I swear to you, that is exactly how it happened. People's mouths were hanging open, including mine, might I add.

There was a complete shocked silence by the crowd, which was only broken by, “Did he just bend that entire fucking thing?” compliments of Lin Beifong.

“AWESOME!” shouted Wei.

“BAAAAAAAW!” shrieked the baby with the green bow, in evident joy. I was guessing that was Naoki.

Chaos broke out. Several well-dressed women came all over faint. People jumped up, and several rows of people hot-footed it out from under the (now moved) sun cover. Huan stood in the midst of it, blinking rapidly. Blinking rapidly was never a good sign with Huan. Without thinking, I plunged off the stage and headed towards him.

“Your Majesty!” roared Yumi behind me, but I trusted her to catch up. I got to Huan at the same time as his father, who had vaulted over the edge of the riser he was sitting on. I hope I am that spry when I am his age, I really do. 

Huan was staring at the ground and continuing to blink. “You could have killed us all,” screeched some woman I did not recognize from behind him, and he shook his head wildly.

“The tensile strength of the metal wasn't compromised, I accounted for it, there was no buckling, it’s perfectly safe,” he said, refusing to look up at her.

His father got in between Huan and the woman, who was breaking all personal boundary rules. “Madame! Contain yourself.”

"It's safe, it's safe," Huan kept repeating.

“Hey, Huan, it’s fine,” I said. I wanted to put an arm around him but I knew that would only make it worse for him, so I refrained.

“But Grandma was in the sun. You said she wasn't to be in the sun. So I moved the sun.” His fingers started to flutter and his shoulders hunched up. This was also not good.

“Yes, I know. Thanks, Huan. Really. It’s the best thing anything has done for me all day. I really appreciate it. Truly. You saved me a lot of trouble.”

He shot me a quick look. He'd pulled his hair up into an elaborate chignon for the occasion, held by silver pins. It showed off his long and slender neck, making him look very vulnerable. I felt oddly protective of him. In fact, I was starting to get a little bit irritated with all of the noise and to-do. It was clearly upsetting him. I had no doubts whatsoever that the structure was sound; for one thing, the man was a Beifong, and for another, I quite sincerely doubt his mother and aunt would have just sat there if it wasn't. Come along now, people. 

“I’m really grateful. And look, Grandma Yin _is_ out of the sun.”

Huan peered back into the seats, and Grandma waved at him happily. She was clearly delighted with the entire thing. LiLing was rapidly fanning herself, but Tu was speaking to her while the Naoki toddler was bouncing up and down in a rather ashen-looking Chow Sr's lap, shrieking with laughter.

“Okay?" He asked me. He made a quick dart of eye contact, still blinking rapidly.

"Peachy keen. Completely and totally okay," I replied. "Seriously. I'm the King here, and I say so, and my say so is what counts. And I'm glad you did it."

"Okay," he said, and he took a deep breath, fingers still fluttering. "There’s a lot of noise here now.” His father had managed to re-direct the woman berating him back to her own seat, but she was still squawking away.

“Cover your ears, Huan,” I said, and he did so.

I blasted a shrill whistle out of my mouth with my fingers. Yumi taught me how to do it. Very efficient, as people hushed up. Kings are not expected to whistle, and the shock factor did them in, I’m sure. “Noble ladies and gentlemen, please do take your seats,” I said in my best majestic tone. People started to sit back down, and the noise went down to a murmur. “Better?” I asked Huan, and he nodded.

Baatar came back and stood next to Huan. He caught my eye and smiled at me. I smiled back. “Huan, let’s go sit back down now so Wu can start his ceremony, shall we?”

“Okay,” Huan said, and let his father lead him back to his seat.

I looked over to see Yumi glaring at me. “I am going to murder you later, you know this, right? Don't you ever run away from me like that again.”

“Understood,” I said. “Sorry. I wasn't thinking." She snorted to let me know exactly what she thought of my brains. I sighed. "Well, let’s get this show on the road before Huan does anything else.”

She escorted me back to my place at the side of the stage, where the orchestra was waiting for the signal to start playing. Nuo was there now, her eyes wide.

“Did you know he could do that? I had no idea he could do that,” Nuo said, forgetting her standard formality when speaking to me. She was staring at the sun cover. 

“Huan is full of surprises,” I said, and with that, the orchestra started to play and the ceremony began.

 

I’m sure the movers still exist of the coronation. After the little bump in the beginning with Huan and the sun cover, the rest went flawlessly. I can't imagine that anything Zhu Li was in charge of would go any other way. There were speeches. There was a crowning. Gun was in his element, his queue practically quivering with importance. (I don't think he'll ever forgive me for cutting mine off when I got to Republic City.) There was applause (let’s face it, we didn't really invite anyone who was looking to get Kuvira back) and appropriate tears from various people. To be honest with you, great-grandchild, it all went by in a blur. A very warm and faintly uncomfortable blur. After it was over there was a reception which was invite only, and to which, quite frankly, I only invited the people I wanted to be there. Well, and all of the various representatives of the Earth Kingdom and their families as well as all of the world leaders. Couldn't really get out of that. Protocol, hip hip hurrah!

I did, however, swap out that long trailing robe for the matching suit jacket. And I took the crown off. It was giving me a headache and it seriously compromised my hair. By the time I had made some sense of the chaos of my hair and had made my way into the party the orchestra was playing (nothing too contemporary, alas, but we were trying to at least give lip service to tradition) and I could see that bubbly was being poured. I was desperately afraid that if anyone official saw me coming they would expect me to stand around for another hour or so giving speeches, so I snuck in through the back door, around the strategically placed potted plants.

Not surprisingly, Huan was also behind the potted plants. Trust Huan to find the least hectic spot in any room. He was sitting on a bench and scooted over for me so I could sit down as well.

“Better?” I asked, and he nodded.

“Sorry if I ruined things,” he said unhappily.

“Huan. You ruined NOTHING. You saved the day!” He ghosted a little smile at me. Suddenly I looked more closely at him. He had dangling from his collar something in silver with green jewels that looked very familiar.

“Is that…is that my brooch? Is that a copy of my brooch?”

He grinned unexpectedly. “Respect the brooch. Earring. Metal Clan style.”

This right here is exactly why I adore Huan. I started laughing, I couldn't help myself. “You little bastard.”

He made quick eye contact, and kept grinning. “Yeah.”

"I'd really like to give you a hug right now," I said. "Is it okay?"

He thought for a moment. "Yeah, okay." Before I could move he'd put his arms around me and hugged me instead. He'd never done that before. I got that little prickly feeling in my nose that meant I was going to have a few little tears if I didn't shake it off right quick.

He pulled back and we sat there for a moment before I gathered myself together. "Well, I guess I should go in."

He nodded. "Okay. I'll come too." We made our way around the potted plants and stood there for a moment, looking over the floor. There were already a few couples out on the dance floor - Zhu Li and Varrick included - but I couldn't see Mako from where we were.  Huan sighed, and I followed his gaze to see Eska cornering Bolin, who was slowly backing away. “She had better leave him alone. Opal won't like that.” Based on the look on Opal’s face as she made her way across the room towards them, I could well believe it. "This could potentially be bad. I better go." He brushed past me and quickly made his way across the room towards Eska and Bolin. I saw Wing moving at a right smart pace to the same area from across the ballroom. I was about to wander over there myself - it was sure to be juicy, and I do hate to miss out on a good scene, Progeny, which is probably not one of my finer qualities but ah well - but at that point the Governor of Yi spotted and approached me and alas! Statecraft takes precedence over good gossip. More's the pity.

As the evening wore on I made my way around the room, saying hello and schmoozing. I didn't have much of a chance to catch up with Mako - at one point he brought me a glass of punch and sat with me for a few moments, but then Firelord Izumi came to speak to me and he left me to it. Izumi was there with her son Iroh - I had somehow missed him in the crowd at the coronation - and she sat down at next to me. “So you are really going to go through with this, King Wu? The abdication? No one can argue against the coronation this time.”

I nodded. “It’s for the best. I really do believe so. It’s long past overdue.”

“Please know you can count on me for any support,” she said, and I thanked her very sincerely. We sat there for a few minutes together, quietly, until Iroh approached us and asked his mother to dance. He tipped me a wink as he led her out to the dance floor. I was relieved. She had not eaten me.

I managed to avoid Eska and Desna for most of the night. Thankfully. They only danced with each other. I don’t know. I don't want to know. Raiko came up and gave some sort of pompous speech at me, with his wife standing, as always, silently next to him, but unbeknownst to him Meelo was standing behind him making faces. Which made it very hard for me to keep my own face straight, but I managed. Later I slipped Meelo a high five.

I saw Tonraq dancing with Asami at one point. She looked beautiful, as always. Asami has keen fashion sense, I will say. She was dressed in her customary red, and I knew from the latest issue of Snazzy magazine (what? I read fashion magazines, how else am I supposed to learn what's in or out? you can't depend on newspapers for that kind of thing) that the straight silhouette of her dress was all the rage right now. She wore it well. She hadn't bobbed her hair, though. I can't say that I blamed her, if my hair looked like hers I'd never cut it. (My hair does not, as it happens, look like hers. Alas!) It made me feel a little sad, though. Well, not because Asami and Tonraq were dancing, but because neither Mako nor I have parents left to us. Of course I know Asami doesn't have any parents either and I suppose her father is a touchy subject (and really, I don't remember much of my own but insofar as I know he was a pretty useless and fairly rotten individual, who parades their concubines in front of their small motherless child? Honestly) but even still. At least Mako does have some family - his brother, and of course Chow Sr and Yin and all the rest. I don't have anyone except third cousins fifteen times removed or something, none of whom I've met (or if I did I was very small and have no memory of it). I really am alone in the world. It made me feel just a little bit blue for a few moments there.

It was, as always, lovely to see Tenzin and his wife, Pema. I am especially fond of Pema and I did ask her to dance with me, and I made sure I gave her a sassy little dip, which made her giggle. I was a little surprised to see all of the airbender children dressed in party clothes instead of wingsuits or traditional robes. I mentioned it to Jinora - dressed in a bright red dress with yellow accents, very chic indeed - and she smiled and said that Tenzin was trying to find the balance between the old monastic traditions taught to him by his father from the time when the Air Nomads mostly stayed in their temples with each other and the reality of the new Air Nation being connected to and involved with the modern world today. Opal looked especially fetching in a rather low-cut dress of vibrant yellows and oranges; Bolin followed her around like a dazed turtleduck chick all night.

As I made my way around the room, I invited all of the young people to join me in one of the lounges of the restored wing of the Palace the next night for a surprise. I debated as to whether or not I wanted to invite Eska and Desna, but was saved from any obligation from Eska announcing they were leaving, Desna slinking along behind her. I wasn't sorry, to be honest. I really didn't want them. They creep me out.

 

At one point I sat down for a few moments at the Beifong table. Baatar was asking me about the decorative fresco on the ceiling of the ballroom (believe it or not, Progeny, I actually knew about it; I was also taught about the history of the Palace back in the day). Wei and Wing were there, between the two of them inhaling a rather alarmingly large pile of Varri-cakes. (Huan had disappeared; most likely taking a break where it was quieter, see above.) Su was being squired around the dance floor by Tenzin. Nuo approached the table. She was wearing a very pretty dress indeed; she had changed out of the formal robes she had worn to the coronation and had done something less severe with her hair. It was pinned up loosely with cloisonne combs, her face framed with softly drifting tendrils. Her clipboard was nowhere to be seen. She looked exceedingly lovely, like a dainty little pink curvy rosebud. Wing had his face in his Varri-cakes and didn't see her.

"Ah, Baatar, let me introduce my secretary, Miss Nuo. Nuo, this is Baatar Beifong." He stood up politely and smiled at her.

She reached out to shake his hand. "I am a great admirer of your work in Zaofu, Mr. Beifong." He was favored with one of her dimpled smiles.

Wing jolted up out of his cake like he'd gotten one of Mako's lightning bolts to his chair. Wei kept eating.

"Oh, well thank you," said Baatar genially. "So how do you like working for our Wu, here?"

"His Majesty is an excellent employer. There is certainly never a dull moment," she replied.

"I'll say," I said.

"I was wondering if perhaps Mr. Wing would like to dance with me?" she asked, looking over at Wing. Wing, who was gaping at her with the koi face. _Again_. 

Baatar looked at his youngest son. He looked at Nuo. He smiled. "Wing, Miss Nuo here was asking you a question. Answer the lady, please."

"Uuurk," said poor Wing. He had an extremely unfortunate smear of jam across his (admittedly handsome) upper lip.

"I believe that means he will," translated Baatar. Wing kept staring. "Wing, get out of your chair and take the lady to the dance floor. Your mother and I taught you better manners than that."

Wing shot out of his chair. Wei looked up in irritation. "Watch it, idiot," he grumbled, mouth full of cake.

Wing bowed and offered his arm to Nuo mechanically, eyes wide. She took his arm and smiled at him. Ah, there went the dimples. Wing made a strangled noise, which Nuo ignored, tugging at him slightly until his feet moved in the direction of the dance floor. She stopped him suddenly and whipped out a prettily embroidered hankie, wiping the jam off of his lip. He goggled at her. The hankie was tucked back into a pocket and clip clip clip went Nuo towards the dance floor, Wing in tow.

"I felt just the same way about his mother," said Baatar, watching his son lead Nuo into a dance. "She came into my office out of the blue one day - without even an appointment, mind you - walked in, sat down on the edge of my desk and told me she wanted me to help her build a city. I'd never seen anything like her before in my life. Before I even knew what was happening to me I was head over heels and in the middle of a huge empty valley with nothing more than her and some plans I'd drawn up. I'm still not entirely sure how how she managed it all." He looked over at his wife - who was walking towards the table, since her dance with Tenzin had finished - with such love that it took my breath away a little bit. I hope that Mako will look at me like that years from now, Progeny. I truly do.

Su caught the look and smiled up at him. "What?" she said.

"Just remembering how beautiful you were that day you first walked into my office," he said, and took her hands. "The most beautiful woman in the world. Still the most beautiful woman in the world."

Su actually blushed. "Oh, Baatar. Go on with you."

He kissed her hand gallantly. "Think you might give a dance to your old husband?" he asked, offering her his arm.

"There's nothing I'd rather do," she said, and kissed him back before he took her out to the floor.

Wei took what was left of his twin's Varri-cake off of his plate and stuffed it in his mouth before looking around the table, frowning. "Where'd everybody go?" he asked.

 

Chow Jr came up to me and told me that his grandmother was getting tired and that he was going to escort her as well as the little girls back to their rooms. At that point I clinked on a glass to get everyone’s attention.

“Ah yes, if I could have everyone's attention for just a moment?  Thanks. As all of you know, I spent over three years in Republic City. At one point I was transferred to the Sato estate, where Yin and Chow and LiLing and their family welcomed me in with open arms and cared for me. My time with them was truly the happiest time of my life; it was the first time I had ever felt like I had a family and I was and am so very grateful to them for all of the kindness they showed me.”

“Oh, Wu,” said LiLing, fanning herself.

“One of the things that Chow talked about was his dream of opening his own winery someday. As some of you probably know, I happen to own a great deal of property.”

“Like 100 Asamis worth,” added Tu, and his mother swatted him with her fan. Asami laughed.

“Er, right. In any case, one of the properties I own is a vineyard located about an hour or so south of Republic City. The current manager of the property is getting ready to retire, but I contacted him and he is willing to continue working for a time to show Chow and Chow Jr the ropes, as it were. There is a small estate on the property as well, and even a koi pond.” Here I nodded towards Yin. “I know you like koi, Grandma.”

“Well, yes I do,” she said, all smiles. “Just like you do, Your Majesty.”

“So in any case, I have the deed for the property here,” I fumbled in my jacket pocket, “And as a thank you I would like to offer it to Chow and his family.” I handed Chow Sr the deed. He stared at it. LiLing burst into tears and threw her arms around me.

“Well now, Wu! That’s just too much! We couldn’t possibly!” Chow Sr protested.

“Oh please take it,” I said. “Please take it. Now you have the little girls with you and it’s very pretty there, it’s in the countryside and very safe and the house there is plenty big enough for everyone, and I know how much you've always wanted your own vineyard. Please, if you don’t take it, what will I do with it? Let all the grapes go to waste? That would be an outright crime. Also, Grandma likes the koi.”

Chow Jr took the deed. “Just take it and say thanks, Dad.” He thrust his hand out and clapped me on the back. “Thanks, Wu.”

Grandma neatly moved a still sobbing LiLing aside and patted my cheek. “You're a very good boy, Your Majesty.” She went up on her toes and I bent down so that she could kiss my cheek.

“I try, Grandma. I really try.”

She leaned into my ear and spoke very quietly. “Also, Mako is a very nice boy, and don't tell anyone I said this, but the handsomest and smartest, too. You might need to hit him with a teapot, though.”

I felt my face go warm. “I'll keep that in mind, Grandma.”

Nothing gets past Grandma Yin, despite what some people might think. You can take that to the bank.

 

I mingled some more, said polite things to my arch-nemesis, the Representative from Gaoling and his husband (who turned out to be very nice indeed - good for you, Gaoling! no wonder he isn't any happier in those meetings than I am, I'm sure he'd rather be home with his nice husband, and also, I suppose I really should apologize for the whole concubine thing) and was roped into taking what felt like several thousand staged photographs by the photographer Zhu Li had arranged for.

After the photographer released me I was sitting at one of the tables chatting with Pema and Su about the latest Air Nomad baby born (not hers! Daw the airbender and his air acolyte girlfriend had a baby daughter last month!) when Huan approached the group. He bowed low to Ikki.

“It was brought to my attention that I behaved rudely the last time I saw you. At the wedding in Republic City. I apologize. I didn't know the intricacies of movement required to place my feet in the proper positions and I was unsure of what to do.”

“Oh, that’s okay, I didn't know that dance either,” said Ikki. She was wearing a lovely floaty dress in a saffron color, and her hair was out of its usual pom-poms, caught up to one side with a fresh flower that was starting to wilt a bit. I noticed with a bit of a start that Ikki wasn't really a little girl any longer. For one thing, she was taller than Jinora. When had that happened? How old is she now anyhow? Twelve? Thirteen? I should ask Huan, he always knows that sort of thing.

“I have since learned said movements and thus I would like to ascertain if I might take you out for this next dance?” Formal Huan meant Huan had practiced what he was going to say.

Ikki beamed. “I'd love to dance with you!”

He held his arm out gravely and she took it with equal solemness as he led her out to the floor. At Huan’s nod, the orchestra struck up a lovely and old fashioned waltz. Huan positioned her carefully into his arms and started to glide her around the floor.

“Did you teach him that?” Su asked her husband in surprise. He was sitting across the table from her and Pema.

(In point of fact, it was me who had taught him. Kings have dancing masters to teach them all of those sorts of things, of course. I know some formal dances that probably haven't been danced in a good five hundred years, and that's not a joke. Huan told me he wanted to learn to waltz, and so I taught him. I didn't ask why he wanted to learn, and he hadn't volunteered why, which is just how Huan is. Take him or leave him. Obviously I take him.)

“Not me,” said Baatar. He exchanged looks with her. He moved chairs so that he could put his arm around his wife’s waist and she leaned against him, watching the dance floor.

“Oh, he’s a lovely dancer!” said Pema with a smile.

“He’s pretty damn good,” agreed Lin, who had walked up to the table as well, and was standing behind her sister and brother-in-law.

As Huan swirled her around the floor the metal cuffs around his wrists began to flow and meld, sliding around her wrists in delicate patterns and flourishes that mimicked the swell of the music. The effect was both beautiful and mesmerizing. Ikki lit up like a beacon. They made a bit of an incongruous couple; Huan, tall and slender with his green and black hair fastened up and his matching formal Zaofu robes and his usual intense expression; Ikki, small-boned and bird-like, light and soaring in deep yellow with an expression of pure enchantment on her face. He took her around the dance floor with sure and steady steps, never once faltering. I don't know if Ikki actually knew how to waltz or not, but he led her effortlessly and made her look as graceful as he was. To be frank, Progeny, I was slightly envious. I do love to dance, but I couldn't begin to hold a candle to what I was seeing out there. I wasn't the only one noticing either; at that point pretty much the entire room had stopped to watch.

As the music ended, the silver cuffs had settled on Ikki’s wrists, woven in an exquisite menagerie of spirit animals; dragonfly bunnies chased by foxes and spirit fireflies and the like. At the center of the bracelet on her right wrist was a perfect representation of a little sugar glider. It was breathtakingly detailed work, right down to the hinges and clasps. He must have practiced. Exhaustively.

Huan led her back to her parents and bowed again. “Thank you, Ikki. It was my honor.” He bent low and kissed the top of her hand. After he straightened up he noticed the looks everyone was giving him, blinked several times, said, “Oh,” and turned tail and went rapidly out of the room.

“Oh dear!” said Pema, with concern.

“Oh, don't mind him, that’s just his way,” said Su. “He’s fine, really.”

Ikki stared after his retreating form, and then down at her bracelets. “I’m going to marry him,” she announced. Everyone turned to look at her.

“Well, honey, I think Huan’s a little old for you,” smiled Pema.

“He’s eight years, eight months and four days older than me. Daddy is sixteen years, three months and twenty-one days older than you. Is Daddy too old for you?”

There was a snort from Lin which was quickly extinguished by a hard elbow to her gut by her sister.

Tenzin cleared his throat. “I think your mother just means that you are a little young yet to be thinking of marriage.”

Ikki waved a carefree hand. “Oh, not _now_. I’m too young _now_. When I'm older. He'll wait for me.”

Pema looked firm. “Ikki, you can't just make up other people’s minds for them. Marriage is something two _adults_ agree on. Which you most certainly are not.”

Ikki looked at her mother and raised one very scornful eyebrow. “Mom, he asked me to dance. He gave me the bracelets. Why do you think he did that? He already made up his mind. He'll wait until I'm old enough. You just don't understand him.” With that she rolled her eyes and sashayed off to fetch herself a glass of punch.

Tenzin sighed. “Teenagers,” he said.

Pema was looking at Su with some concern. “Uh. Ikki is a rather determined girl,” she said.

Su stared back at her.

“She has a tendency to make up her mind about things and there is nothing anybody can do or say to change it.” Pema said, and rubbed her forehead.

“Oh, well, you know how kids can be,” said Baatar with a little chuckle. He glanced over at where Wing was standing on the edge of the dance floor, staring at Nuo, who was currently being led out to the dance floor by Iroh. 

Pema looked at Su and Su began to look slightly alarmed as well. “Well. Uh. I don't really…Huan isn't...” she trailed off and and both mothers looked after Ikki, who standing next to the punchbowl and showing her bracelets off to an interested Jinora and Meng-Meng.

Opal came up. “Well, trust Huan to set the whole room spinning. That’s twice in one day, which might actually be a record for him.” She shook her head in amusement. “I’m sure it never even occurred to him it would go down that way.” She caught the look Pema was giving to her daughter. “Oh Pema, you don't need to worry. At all, I mean. Ikki’s still a child to Huan, he would never dream of doing anything, and by never dream I mean it would simply never occur to him to do anything out of bounds with her. He just meant the bracelets as a gift.”

“That’s true,” said Su. “Huan just doesn't think the way the rest of us do. He would never! Ikki’s just a child still.”

“I don't think that’s helping, Susi,” said Baatar.

“Ah,” said Pema uncertainly. Su took her arm and motioned to Tenzin as well.

“We should probably talk about this,” she said, and she stood up to lead them towards an empty table set away in an alcove, Baatar following along. Wei made to follow and his mother stopped him with a look.

“Those bracelets, though. Flaming shit,” said Lin. “I couldn't do that even if I wanted to. And here I thought before today that kid wasn't much of a bender.”

“Shows all you know,” said Wei loyally, and his aunt flicked him on the head before sauntering over to the table where her sister was, uninvited.

“Huan would never,” said Opal fiercely.

“I know,” I said. “You don't have to convince me of it.”

She looked towards the door that her brother had disappeared out of. “Who’s going?” she asked.

“I'll go,” said Wei, and he headed out in that general direction.

Opal smiled at me. “He speaks very highly of you, you know. Refuses to hear a bad thing about you.”

I smiled back. “I really do like your brother.”

Mako approached. “Uh, did your brother just propose to Ikki or something?” He glanced over at the table where two sets of parents (and an aunt) were looking at Ikki and talking in hushed but what looked to be fairly urgent tones.

Opal sighed. “No! Technically no.”

“Because I'm pretty sure she’s underage.”

“Don’t start, Mako!” The look Opal gave him was so fierce he stepped back involuntarily, hands up defensively.

“I wasn't trying to start anything, I swear. I apologize. No offense meant.”

“Hmph,” sniffed Opal, barely mollified.

“Actually, the reason I came over was because I thought that since the room has already been scandalized, I may as well ask Wu to dance.”

“Really?” I said, delighted. “You've never asked me to dance before! I’m a great dancer!”

“There’s a first time for everything,” he replied, and smiled.

“Who’s going to lead, though?” I asked.

His smile went straight to my heart. “We'll take turns,” he answered, and led me out to the floor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I put this at the end to avoid spoilers!
> 
> [AllennellA](http://allisnotgold.tumblr.com/post/114476622827/i-drew-a-scene-from-this-wonderful-wuko-fanfic) drew Huan and Ikki's ballroom scene. It was a wonderful surprise and I love it.


	4. Early Summer, Horse Month, 28th Day, 175 AG

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Breakfast, and a surprising show of bendiness. Plus an evening with friends.

Ba Sing Se  
Early Summer, Horse Month, 28th Day, 175 AG

 

I had the whole day to myself today, Progeny. THE WHOLE ENTIRE DAY. 

The first thing I did (after waterbending forms, I am a very good Wu) was to drag Mako with me to eat breakfast in the main dining hall. Which is a very imposing room with a table that is half the length of the city, I do swear, and it used to be full of rather terrifying busts of all of the various long dead Hou-Tings (Hou-Ting XIV had extremely large ears, which fascinated me as a child) but of course those are all gone now. It actually looks much nicer now, it has flowers instead of heads for decor.

Nuo had made arrangements for breakfast to be served in there for several hours for all of our guests. Very informal, sort of a serve yourself kind of thing. Normally I never get to eat anywhere but my rooms - security thing - but even Yumi had to allow that it was unlikely that I was going to be done away with in a room full of the world's most powerful benders. I was very pleased with this decision, let me assure you.

There were a few scattered people in the hall when we arrived. Over in one section were Wei, Wing, Bolin, Opal and Korra, so we joined them. 

"Hey, good morning!" said Bolin, all smiles.

"Mmmmmm," said Mako. Mako is not, I am sorry to say, really a morning person. It takes him at least two or three cups of tea before he really gets up to speed. I don't generally have this problem. Oh, why be coy: so long as my eyes are open, my mouth is moving.

"Where's Huan?" I asked.

Wei shrugged. "I dunno. He was out before we woke up." None of us were much alarmed by this. Huan has his own relationship with time. Which is to say, Huan and time don't really shake hands and get friendly with each other. I don't mean that he's someone that's always late; I just mean that he doesn't seem to notice the passage of time. If you want him to be somewhere at a certain time, you had best make sure you fetch him yourself.

"He'll eat if he's hungry," said Opal. "Wu, I want you to know I had a really nice time last night. You throw a good party."

"Thanks, Opal." Really, you couldn't give me a better compliment than that! "Hey, where's Asami?"

Korra smiled. "Still sleeping. She hardly ever sleeps in, so I didn't want to wake her up. If she doesn't show up by the time I leave I'll take her some breakfast."

Mako had managed to find a newspaper on our way in. He sat down and, per usual, sectioned out the paper. He pulled his pen out of his pocket and started to read. He always reads with a pen in his hand. I reached over and filled two teacups, adding a healthy amount of sugar and milk to Mako’s. (The man has a vicious sweet tooth.) I set his in front of him and sat down next to him. Without looking he passed over the entertainment section, which I rattled open and started to skim.

  

When I arrived in Republic City I was fifteen years old. I had a queue to my waist, wore nothing but formal robes, had only left the Palace a handful of times - and had never left the shelter of the Upper Ring - and my days were strictly regimented. I did not have free time. I did not play. I did not listen to the radio or see movers or attend anything but rare public appearances as a Prince. I spent my days in study; what recreational time I was allotted was spent with books from the Royal Library (no novels, certainly not), playing Pai Sho and walking the Palace grounds for exercise. I had a Nanny until I was five; after that I had tutors until such time as the Red Lotus made my escape from the city an immediate necessity.

Mako became my bodyguard about nine months after I came to Republic City. By the time he'd gotten to me I was sixteen, had cut off my queue, had bought my first (of many) suits and had watched every single mover available. I had the radio on non-stop and had read every cheap novel I could get my hands on. 

I was _terrible_. Simply terrible. I was on my own with no real supervision - I had bodyguards, but their job was to follow me around. There was no one telling me what to do, when to do it, or who to do it with. I had gone from a completely sheltered life to a life without any rules or boundaries. I spent I don't even know how much money. (I truly don't.) 

I was both elated and miserable; terrified and free. It was a very confusing time for me. I had no idea who I was or what I was supposed to be doing. I was in a strange city and I went from people kowtowing to me in the halls of the Palace to accidentally banging into me on sidewalks and shouting at me to get out of the way. No one gave a damn about me - as either a person or a Prince - in Republic City, and I had no idea what to do about that. I had no idea whatsoever how normal people lived.

Lin Beifong brought Mako to meet me. I had gone through several bodyguards at that point; one only lasted two days before walking out on the job. (Not that I blame him, truly. I was terrible, I am not joking, Progeny.) It is true what I said to Mako - he was so handsome that I was completely overwhelmed by it and so naturally I wanted him around. (The bodyguard before him was an oaf who had a tendency to spit and made extremely crude remarks about women, which is why I demanded another one. I was terrible, but not terrible enough to either say or listen to those kinds of things about women.)

Mako moved into my suite at the Four Elements Hotel and had the same small room that the previous bodyguards had. The first morning he was there he took the newspaper and sat down to read during breakfast. I didn't like that, of course - what I wanted him to do was pay attention to me! He didn't, though, he just sat and read the newspaper with his pen in his hand. I was sulking that first morning - I wanted to leave the hotel and it was clear that he was going to eat his breakfast, read his paper, and drink his tea before that was going to happen.

At one point he looked over at me and frowned. _Have you eaten any of that breakfast?_ he asked. I made some sort of rude answer, and he glared at me. _Eat your breakfast or we aren't leaving_ , he replied.

I was so shocked that someone - anyone! - after all that time was telling me what to do that I simply obeyed him. I ate the damn breakfast.

He wasn't like the other bodyguards - and that's because he _wasn't_ a bodyguard. He was a cop who had raised a younger brother and was going to take absolutely zero guff from me. (I have often wondered if that's why Lin gave him to me. I very much suspect it had quite a lot to do with it. Sharp as a sword, Lin Beifong.)

As time went on and we got at least somewhat used to each other, breakfast became a steady thing in my life. Mako read the paper and drank tea with lots of milk and sugar followed by a bowl of jook; I drank my tea black and picked at my food. Eventually I asked him if I could have the entertainment section - I noticed that he never read it, sticking to the news and sometimes the sports. He obligingly passed me over the entertainment section when asked, and eventually it became a part of the ritual.

I don't know when it became part of the ritual for me to chatter at him while we ate, but eventually it did as well.

 

“Oh, look, Mako. According to this, there’s going to be another Desert book coming out sometime next year!”

“Mmmm,” said Mako.

“Oh, but this one will deal with Jade Blossom and Ping’s offspring. They don't have any offspring yet though, do they? Or at least not in Chapter Four.”

“We're on Chapter Three,” said Mako. He turned the page of his own section.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

“Oh.” I turned the page. “Oh, Mako, look, there’s going to be a concert in Ba Sing Se next week. I doubt they'll let me go, though. It’s got that one singer I like. You know, Bao, with all the hair.”

“Mmmmm,” he said. He took a large swallow of his tea. 

A server came and placed a fresh platter of food in front of us: buns, sliced fruits, and a large pot of jook, which Bolin and the twins immediately dug into.

We both read on for a moment, and he layered some of the fruit on top of one of the buns and handed it to me on a plate without taking his eyes up from his paper. I took a bite. “You will never guess what they are saying the latest fashion is. Feathers! Feathers for women’s hair, on men’s lapels, maybe even dresses. Don’t you think that would be gorgeous?”

“No,” he said, and drank some more tea. He turned the page, folding the rest of the paper behind the open section.

“Well, that’s what you said about double-breasted suits for men and see how that turned out. Now it’s all the thing. You'd look so good in a double-breasted suit. I wish I could carry it off, but alas! No double-breasted for Wu.”

“Mmmm,” he said. “Eat your breakfast.”

I took another bite.

He frowned at his paper and circled a word and passed it over to me. I read it. “Oh, that’s efface. Oh, very fancy, aren't we, Ba Sing Se Sentinel! Efface, it means to erase, get rid of.”

“I’d like to efface feathers from fashion,” he said, and pulled out his blue notebook. (His blue notebook is his New Words notebook. His red notebook is his Things I Have Observed And Need To Think About Later notebook. His green notebook is his None Of Your Business, Wu notebook. I don't know what he writes in that one.)

“Ha ha ha, you are such the wit!”

He wrote it down in his notebook carefully and then passed it to me. “Just tip up the end a bit more there.” He took his pen and did so. “Yes, that’s good.”

“Eat the rest of your bun,” he said, and put the notebook back in his pocket, going back to his part of the paper.

I took the tea pot and gave him a refill, adding more milk and sugar. “Oh, Mako, there’s an ad for Madame Peony’s! I completely forgot to tell you, Nuo ordered some more of that salve for your hand.”

“Thanks,” he said, and drank some more tea.

“I don't know, I like the look of the feather headdresses. I wonder if they'll dye them? Maybe to match. I saw a woman at the coronation and I swear she had her shoes dyed to match her robes, and I was going to ask but I never could get close enough to her, more’s the pity. Although, honestly, the concept was good but she had it done in mauve, and it might very well be the color of the season, but I'd like to know, who looks good in mauve? Washes me right out. It certainly washed her right out.”

“Mmmmm,” he said.

Suddenly I realized it was very quiet in our section of the room. I looked up to see Beifongs (plus Bolin and Korra) staring at us. “What?” I said.

Mako glanced up as well.

“You eat breakfast like my parents,” said Wei with fascination. “That’s the weirdest thing I ever saw.”

Bolin wagged his finger between the two of us. “What is this? This breakfast thing? The word thing? The paper thing?”

I looked over at Mako. He looked over at me and shrugged, and went back to his paper. Mako takes his newspaper at breakfast very seriously. He’s grouchy if it gets interrupted. Ask me how I know.

Mako tapped on my plate, head in his paper. “Finish the rest of your breakfast.”

“Unbelievable,” muttered Korra. With a mouthful of jook, mind you. Very nice!

“You know, you and Bolin were out of town for awhile. Wu and I did breakfast together for over two years.” Mako rustled his paper a bit irritably. He sighed, and finished his tea in one swallow. “Eat the rest of your breakfast.” He caught Korra’s look. “What? He'd live off of tea and air if you let him.” He glanced over at his brother, who was already on his umpty-ump bowl of jook. “Unlike some others I could mention.” He put his section of the paper down and served himself a bowl of jook. "Wu has a better vocabulary than I do. I've never known him yet to not know a word I've given him."

"Many hours of tutoring." I said, and shrugged. "Not as exciting as it sounds."

 

I was thoughtless, Progeny. Thoughtless and selfish. But no one has ever accused me of being stupid - foolish, yes, frivolous, more times than I can count, but never _stupid_ \- and I did observe things.

Mako accused me of never asking anything about him once, but if we are going to be entirely fair, that's not exactly true. I _asked_. Probably inappropriately asked, granted, but let me make something clear: Mako always refused to answer. Getting an answer to anything from Mako is like pulling teeth, and getting an answer about anything personal? I imagine riding elephant koi through Kyoshi Bay would be easier than that. Mako point blank refused to discuss himself or his past.

I could see how slowly he read, how laboriously he wrote. I had clued in enough at that point that I had realized that perhaps not every other person in the world had grown up the way I had! I knew he was an orphan; it had actually slipped out of him one day before he clammed right back up. Eventually, it got through my brain that perhaps - just perhaps - he hadn't had the kind of access to education that I had.

Mako read. Constantly. Not just newspapers, not just journals, but every book he could get his hands on. He never was one for novels - the lovely man isn't much for flights of fancy, I know, unlike me - but he was incredibly well-read and knowledgable. Very proud of it, as well, but then again, Mako is a very proud man. Of course I noticed the blue notebook. I was simply dying of curiosity as to what he was writing in it, but he ignored every hint I ever threw down about it. One day he accidently left it sitting on one of the tables in our suite with his pen next to it, and while he was in the bathroom I made my move.

It was full of words. Lots of words. Some of them had definitions written next to them, but not all of them. I quickly scanned down the lists. How long had he had this notebook? A while, I thought. The penmanship was quite possibly the worst I had ever seen - it looked like a child's scrawl. (Which it was, of course.) The last page - which I had seen him write in that morning, at breakfast - had the word _soliloquy_ written there. No definition. So I took up his pen, and in my very best calligraphy wrote _a speech or discourse by one person_ next to it. 

He came out and took up the blue notebook and pen and slipped them into his pocket without looking at them.

Later that day he was waiting for me while I was getting my hair cut. I came out of the salon and he was sitting there, and I could tell something was wrong. He was even brusquer than usual with me, and when we got back to the hotel he pulled the blue notebook out of his pocket.

 _This is mine_ , he said. _It's mine. It's not your business. You might be my employer, but you don't have the right to my private things._ He was very angry. In retrospect, of course, he had every right to be.

I shrunk down inside myself. To give myself some credit, I wasn't trying to be condescending. Thoughtless, yes, but I wasn't thinking of myself as being somehow better than him. It was just that I knew what the word meant, and so, with my usual impulsiveness, I wrote it down.

I tried to tell him that. He wasn't having it. Finally, in tears, I said, _What else am I good for? It's not like they didn't waste all of that education on a stupid useless homeless boy like me!_ Which was, I believe, the first time I had ever actually expressed to him any of my own feelings about my own uncertain status as a refugee. I ran into my bedroom and slammed the door and cried myself to sleep.

The next morning we sat at the table. He read the paper and I sat there, silent and miserable, not eating. The blue notebook came out, and he wrote something down in it. Then, casually, like he had always done so, he slid the notebook across the table towards me. _Imperative_ , it read. I stared at it for a moment, uncomprehending. I looked up at him and he raised an expectant eyebrow.

 _Um, that means something that is absolutely necessary_ , I said. He pulled the notebook back and wrote in it. And then went back to reading his paper.

 _Eat your breakfast_ , he said, without looking up. So I did.

 

"So what is everybody doing today?" asked Wing.

"You've got a pool here, Wu, right?" Korra asked.

"Yeah. My father had it put in when I was a baby. It's been cleaned and everything, you can go swimming if you want."

"Asami mentioned she might want to swim."

"Well, by all means. Really, you can go anywhere you want in the Palace. There are some parts that are still in pretty bad shape, but nothing that's dangerous or anything."

"I want to see your Conservatory," said Opal. 

"It's not as nice as it was, but they've done a lot of work there. It used to have all of the flora native to the Earth Kingdom in it. The gardeners have managed to replace nearly everything that was torn up, though. The koi are gone, though, I'm sorry to say." 

"What about the two of you?" asked Bolin.

"Wu and I have plans," said Mako.

"We do?"

"Yes." 

This was news to me.

At that point Yumi came in. I had given her the entire day off, so she was makeup-free, dressed in loose trousers and a tunic. (I will lay yuan she still had weapons stowed about her person, though.) She loped over in that long stride of hers and winked at me. "Top of the morning, Officer Hotpants," she said, saluting Mako before throwing herself into a chair.

That set Korra off. "Officer HOTPANTS?" She threw her head back with laughter. "You're killing me here! OFFICER HOTPANTS."

Mako started to pinch the bridge of his nose again.

"There's an indescribably fine bottom in those pants," I said with a grin and that set her off even more.

"You don't have to tell _me_ ," she hooted.

Mako sighed. Loudly. Opal had both hands over her mouth, but her shoulders were shaking. Even the twins were snickering. Bolin tried very hard to show brotherly support, but it wasn't really working.

"Well, hey! That's a compliment, right? I mean, hot pants, that's a good thing, right? You wouldn't want to be Officer C _old_ pants, would you?"

Korra almost fell out of her chair at that one. Even Yumi started to laugh.

"Thanks, Bo. Thanks a whole lot. So glad I can provide you all with a little morning amusement." 

Yumi leaned over towards Korra. "Did you hear about how he chased off the Grand Secretariat in his altogether?"

Korra's mouth dropped open. "Get the fuck out!"

Yumi poured herself some tea and told the story. Yumi is an _excellent_ storyteller. She split her time growing up half on board her waterbender mother's ship and half on her Kyoshi Island father's home turf, and she loves nothing more than a good yarn. Her impression of poor Cockroach's face when Mako came out was so funny that Wei actually snorted tea out of his nose, which set us all off even more. 

 

It sounds silly, Progeny, and it was. It was silly and it was funny and I was _included_. Perhaps that doesn't sound like anything momentous to you, but it was simply everything to me. I was sitting at a table with people who actually wanted me there, and they were including me in the joke. Even Mako had to laugh when Yumi did her impression of the Cockroach, and he casually slung his arm around and kissed me on the top of the head while laughing. It's not what is done by royal Princes, Progeny. It was so very different than the meals I had spent here as a child, so formal and frigid and, quite frankly, frightening. I never used to eat much, I would just sit as quietly as I could and hope that no one would take notice of me. I suppose you could say that I had a very hostile childhood. But this? This room full of sunlight - the curtains were always drawn when the Queen ate here but this morning? The curtains were open and the sun warmed the room and brightened up all the flowers and there were people laughing and talking to me. It's everything my younger self had ever hoped for.

 

I had sort of drifted off into my own little world for a few moments (if I am being perfectly truthful, Progeny, I was thinking about a certain someone's indescribably fine bottom, it pains me to admit it, but it was true) when I heard my name come up.

"...Wu can move faster than you'd think, for example," said Yumi.

"Huh?" I said, jolting out of my reverie. 

Yumi grinned at me. "I was telling the Avatar here that at Kyoshi Academy the focus is on tailoring fighting moves to people's personal strengths. You don't have enough bulk to do any damage to anyone, so instead we focused on just getting you out of a tight situation."

I held up my arm and looked at it sorrowfully. "Not much there," I agreed.

Korra looked at me skeptically. "So you're saying you gave Wu self-defense lessons?"

"He's pretty good," said Wing. "We've seen him." Wei nodded his assent.

"Thank you, Wing."

"Oh sure."

Yumi stood up and waved me forward. “What we focused on was his strengths, which are flexibility and quickness. Wu can move like an eel hound. I noticed when I watched him trying to show Huan how to dance in Zaofu. He’s fast and bendy. Not very helpful for offense, not without some muscle behind it, but not too shabby at defense. The key was to take advantage of the waterbending forms he does and his dancing, incorporate that into movement for him.” She leaned over and took up a chopstick. “He needs to be able to deflect and escape close-range attacks, because that’s the most danger he’s in. Assassins and kidnappers, for example.” She held the chopstick up and raised her eyebrows at me. I nodded, and turned my back on her.

Mako looked extremely distressed at this. Well. To me, at least. To everyone else he probably just looked like he was having a spot of indigestion.

Suddenly she was there, and I moved. Just like she had drilled into me, gliding under her chopstick, shifting as she switched hands and took the chopstick underhand, moving around behind her where it would make it impossible for her to strike, placing the flat of my hand to her body to feel which way she would turn, sliding my foot into a perfect earth dragon pose, and as she turned to move out of it, hitting her with chi-blockers. BAM BAM BAM, stiff-fingered, just like she'd taught me. Yumi went down with a grunt. I stood there, panting slightly. I never like getting attacked, even if I know it is Yumi and she would never really hurt me.

“Damn, that smarts,” said Yumi, and I dropped down to reverse the blocks. Korra hopped up from her chair to yank her up as Yumi shook it off. “Chi blockers, works on both benders and non-benders alike. Part of any Kyoshi Warrior’s arsenal. Particularly effective for Wu, again because of how quick and flexible he is. He can get himself to where he needs to be to put them into place.”

Mako was staring at me. With his mouth wide open. It was actually kind of funny.

“Close your mouth, Officer Hotpants, you'll draw gnats in there.”

Mako shut his mouth with a snap.

“Now, you'll never move the way Wu does,” Yumi continued, looking at Korra. “But neither will I. You're a big girl, like I am. Strength is where we are at. But as you can see by Wu, you don't have to be particularly big or strong or even an actual bender to take advantage of the moves. Those were all waterbender moves he was doing.”

“Doing really well, too,” said Korra, and she bowed at me.

I bowed back, my face heating up a bit. I wasn't going to throw away a compliment from the waterbender Avatar, believe you me.

 

Mako's grand plan was for us to go back to my room and talk. I'm not complaining, mind you. It's not very easy to get Mako to talk about anything, so I was very appreciative of the fact that he was willing to do it. We talked about how we were going to manage things - there's simply no way around it, he lives in Republic City and I live here, at least for the foreseeable future. It's not ideal, but we aren't the first people who have had to do it, and that includes his brother and Opal, for one. Korra and Asami, for another. It's not for forever, either. I have an airship at my disposal, there are reliable trains between Republic City and Ba Sing Se, and we will just have to manage it. There are people who have it so much worse than we do, and I must keep reminding myself of this.

I won't pretend I am happy about it, Progeny, but at least we know where we stand now. 

"Will you miss me?" I asked. He was stretched out on the bed - shoes off, thank you very much - and had me wrapped up in his arms.

"Yes," he replied. "Yes. My flat is too quiet."

I snorted. "So you're saying that the only reason you want me around is for background noise? Get a radio."

His arms tightened. "Tried that already. Didn't work."

"I guess you'll just have to keep busy. Fighting crime on the streets of Republic City."

"Yeah, well, it's not like that's going to dry up any time soon."

"True."

"Although I'm committing a crime right now though, right?"

"No, actually. You have my permission to touch me, and you aren't harming me, so nothing illegal. It's if you don't have permission or if you cause me any harm that we have to get the Dai Li involved."

He bit my earlobe and my entire body reacted. "So, is that a Dai Li-worthy offense?"

"Oh yes. Absolutely."

He chuckled. "What on earth do they do with naughty little princes, then? No spankings for you."

I shifted. "Ah. Well. Yeah, funny thing, that. You can't physically discipline a prince, of course. I mean, not even my great-aunt or my father could cause me harm, the law is very specific. So when I was a small boy and I was naughty - you know, I didn't eat my vegetables or did poorly at my studies or was caught playing in the hallways, or something like that? Well, they'd bring up a boy about my age up from the Lower Ring. Someone like Tu, or even you or your brother. And they'd whip him instead."

Mako sat up, pulling me up with him. " _What?_ "

"I'd have to watch it. Them thrashing the boy for whatever it was I had done wrong. I wasn't allowed to cry or react in any way - Princes are always to keep themselves inscrutable, and spirits know that Kings don't cry. If I cried or reacted in any way then they'd punish the boy even more for that as well."

"Wu!" Mako's face was shocked.

"When they were finished with whichever boy they had chosen, he had to kowtow to me and thank me for the privilege of taking my punishment. Once, I couldn't stop myself from crying, the boy they had that time was so thin and raggedy and his face was so terrified, he just kept staring into my eyes as they hit him, he never made a sound, he just kept staring at me, and I was so horrified I couldn't stop myself, and they beat him until he was bloody, and it was all my fault, you see, because I couldn't control myself. And he had to thank me for it, bleeding all over the marble floors. I learned how to be a very good boy very quickly, I can assure you."

He just stared at me. 

"I don't know what they did with those boys afterward. I was always too afraid to ask." I took a deep breath. "Everyone is always asking me if I think I am doing the right thing, abolishing the monarchy. I am doing the right thing, Mako. I know I am. I know that things can and do go wrong in democracies as well. But this whole appalling palace, it's nothing but rot and pain. I just can't let it continue. I can't."

"I don't even know what to say to that," he said, his hands brushing down my back. "I had no idea. No idea at all."

"I've never talked about it before," I said. "I mostly try not to remember that kind of thing. I don't like to dwell on it." I managed a little smile. "Besides, I am sure that you and your brother had awful things happen to you as well. I mean, your parents were killed and you lived on the street."

He thought for a moment, and then answered slowly. "It was awful, a lot of it. But none of it was personal. I'm not saying it wasn't bad, but it could have happened to any kid in the city. Bo and I weren't the only orphans there, believe me. But it wasn't personal. No one was deliberately cruel to us that way. It was just impersonal cruelty. I don't know if that makes sense."

"It makes sense," I said. "What about when your parents were killed?"

He went very still and didn't answer for a time. "I've never told anybody about that," he answered finally.

"Not even Korra? Or Asami?"

He shook his head. "No. Not even Bolin. He wasn't there when it happened." He was quiet for a time, hands stroking absently down my shoulders and upper arms. "I...I would like to tell you. But not today. Is that okay?"

"Of course." I meant it.

"I have to leave tomorrow, and I don't want to tell that story right now. But I would like to tell you about it. Can it wait until later?"

"Whenever you're ready, I'm ready to hear it."

He brushed his thumb across my lower lip. "This wasn't really how I had planned to spend my afternoon." He grimaced. "I was thinking we could do something a little more fun than this."

I grinned at him suddenly. "Have I ever told you about my very detailed fantasies that involve you as a Triad boss?"

He blinked at me - well, I am known for sudden changes of subject, Progeny, it's a gift, I suppose, or at the very least a sign of how scattered my brain is - and then he laughed a little. "Okay, then, we're changing the subject. Do I really want to hear this?"

"Well, they do involve me being tied up while you demand ransom for me."

He shifted until he was sitting back against the pillows, pulling me into his lap and nudging at my legs until I had wrapped them around his waist. "That's actually something that could happen in the Triads, I'll have you know. Do I get the ransom?"

"Of course not. Well. Maybe _later_ you get the ransom."

"How much later?"

"Later enough to take it out on me?"

"Mmmmmm. Triad bosses don't like it when things are late, that's true."

"Naturally you've asked for a great deal of ransom money."

"You are very rich, or so I've been told."

"I am exceedingly wealthy."

"Probably pretty spoiled, too."

"That goes without saying."

"Probably pretty mouthy, at that."

I sat up very straight in his lap, looked down my nose at him and gave him my very best Hou-Ting. "I demand that you release me immediately." His arms tightened almost painfully around me, and his eyes flashed. YES!

He leaned back and raised an eyebrow. "I don't think you're in any position to make demands of me, _Your Majesty_." The last just dripped with condescension.  He leaned forward very deliberately and bit my earlobe.

Now we were getting somewhere.

"How _dare_ you put your hands on me, _peasant?_ Do you have any idea what the penalty for that is?"

He shifted and then I was on my back on the bed, and he was looming over me, legs tangled with mine, my wrists held tightly together with one of his hands above my head. "I don't think I give a damn," he said, his eyes bright and wild. "I think maybe you should shut your royal mouth before I shut it for you."

"You can try," I spat out, and then his mouth was on mine.

 

That evening, I took Mako by the hand and dragged him along after me to one of the lounges. Yumi joined us on the way.

"So what's the surprise, Dumpling?"

"I'm not telling! That would ruin the surprise!"

When we got there the door to the lounge was closed and locked. Opal and Bolin were already there, as well as Korra and Asami. 

"Are we going to stand out here all night?" asked Asami, with a smile.

"Patience, people!" I said, grinning. Down the hall came the airbenders; Jinora, Ikki, Meelo and Kai. Ikki informed us that Rohan was deemed too young to stay up that late. I'm glad I wasn't a fly on that wall, let me tell you. Meng-Meng and Tu came next, with Iroh walking alongside. Meng-Meng kept shooting Iroh dazed looks. He had given her his arm. I'm pretty sure Meng-Meng won't need an airship to float home tomorrow.

I made a quick count. "That's everybody but Chow Jr and Huan and the twins."

"Chow's not coming," said Tu. "He went down to the Lower Ring to meet up with some old friends."

"What about Eska and Desna?" asked Jinora.

"They left this morning," said Korra. "And no one is sorry."

"I'm not," muttered Bolin.

"She had better get herself back to that ice palace of hers and just stay there," said Opal, lips thinning.

"Yeah, okay. So then just Huan and the twins, right?" I craned my neck to peer down the hallway, but didn't see them. 

Opal sighed. "Well, do we really want to wait for them?"

I shook my head. "Nope. They'll be along when they are along."

I knocked on the door and called through it. "Okay, we're ready!"

The door was unlocked and Nuo was there. She was smiling. "Everything is ready in here as well, Your Majesty."

There was a screen set up on the wall, and three large sofas had been moved into a semicircle in front of it. There were pillows and cushions scattered across the floor in front of the sofas as well. The windows had been heavily draped. A projector was on a table in the back, and next to it was a table covered with various snacks and drinks.

"This is amazing!" said Bolin happily. "Are we getting a mover night?"

I bounced up and down. "Surprise!"

"Please help yourself to snacks," said Nuo. There was a mad rush, with lots of laughing and amiable shoving. Mako used his long reach to snag a pouch of Flaming Fire Flakes as well as a few of his favorite iced sweet buns. He juggled them expertly with two drinks. Seeing he had the snacks in hand, I dropped myself onto one of the sofas. Opal sat down on the other side of me.

"This is a great idea, Wu! What made you think of it?"

I smiled. "I always wanted to have parties when I was a child, and it never happened. So I figured I could have some fun now." Mako vaulted over the back of the sofa and settled down on the other side of me. Bolin parked himself on the other side of Opal.

"Best idea ever, Wu," he said, grinning.

Everyone settled down with snacks. Korra and Asami and Yumi were on the sofa to the right of us; Iroh had settled down (at a polite and gentlemanly distance) with Meng-Meng on the other side of Bolin. Everyone else made themselves comfortable on various cushions and pillows on the floor. I snitched a Flaming Fire Flake from the pouch in Mako's hand. 

"Are we ready?" I asked.

Nuo switched off the lights.

“Make-out city,” sang out Meelo.

“Shut up, Meelo,” hissed Jinora.

A fluttering sound was heard…and then up on the screen came the words:

 

_**The Adventures of Nuktuk: Hero of the South** _

 

There was a general cheer. Yumi whistled through her fingers.

“Whoooo! Nice shorts there, Bolin!” hollered Kai.

“Nice ass in those shorts,” bellowed Korra, laughing, and Bolin jumped up and bowed to everyone.

“Thank you, thank you, autographs later.” He leaned around Mako to grin at me. “How did you get it?”

“It? Oh my friend, I have them _all_. I asked Zhu Li!”

“Oh, here comes Ginger!” yelled Ikki. “Could that dress be cut any lower?”

"I love that dress," said Meng-Meng. "She is so glamorous!"

“Down in front,” called Iroh. “You're in the way of the projector!” Bolin plopped down, the entire sofa shuddering.

Mako was shaking his head, laughing. “I can't take the furry shorts seriously. I just can't do it.”

“You know, they are surprisingly comfortable! You wouldn't think it, but it’s true.”

“And so practical for the weather,” grinned Korra, climbing over to our sofa to give Bolin a noogie.

“That fucking Varrick,” said Mako, and Korra clambered over Opal and me (both of whom shouted at her) to give him a noogie as well. Mako smacked her away good-naturedly.

"Korra, come back here," said Asami, laughing. Korra flung herself back onto their sofa and put her head in Asami's lap.

“Oh, there’s Pabu!” cried Jinora. "And Naga!"

“Seriously, Bo, you could have at least asked me how to do some waterbender moves. What is that weird thing you are doing with the floppy arms there?” Korra was grinning. “Do that, you'd probably be lucky to even get wet.”

“I don't think realism was the goal here,” said Mako. He popped a Flaming Fire Flake into my mouth, and yanked me into the circle of his arm.

“Hey, shut your yaps, some of us are trying to listen,” said Kai.

 

We'd been watching for about fifteen minutes when the door opened, briefly letting in light. Huan and the twins squeezed in.

“Hey, guys,” cried Bolin. Iroh considerately lit his hand up so they could see to sit down. Huan stood there for a moment before Meng-Meng patted the sofa she and Iroh were on and he sat down on the far side of it, closest to Mako. The twins went around the front and managed to scrounge up some cushions. Once they were settled Iroh’s hand doused itself.

"Nuktuk? AWESOME," shouted Wing happily.

“Hey, we have snacks? Are there any left?” Wei called.

Nuo carefully stepped around in the dark. “We do have some. What do you like?”

“Oh, we can get them, you don't have to,” Wing scrambled up, knocking into her in the dark.

“Down in front!” yelled Iroh.

“Sorry! Sorry! Oh, Miss Nuo, did I hurt you?” Wing’s voice was anxious.

“No, it’s fine, I'm fine.”

“I'm so sorry,” he repeated. "So sorry."

“Get me some sizzle crisps, wouldja?” said Wei, who had eyes for nothing but Bolin onscreen, bending over in those awful shorts.

“I have the snacks over here,” whispered Nuo, and she crouched low to walk in front of the screen, Wing crouching low behind her. She took him around behind us to where the mover projector was sitting.

“Ooooh, I love this part! Nuktuk to the rescue!” said Opal. “Although I don't really care for that Ginger woman. And by I really don't care for her I mean I’d like to drop her off of Juicy.”

“Forget Ginger. I would save you any time, Opal.”

“I know you would.”

“I would take my shirt off to do it, too.”

Opal giggled. “You can take it off later. _Nuktuk_.”

"Oh come on, you two," said Asami. "Get a room!"

"You should have seen Opal's old bedroom at home. She had Nuktuk posters all over the walls," said Huan.

"HUAN BEIFONG!" screeched Opal. "You shut up right now!"

"Opal! Did you really?" Bolin looked delighted.

"She totally did. Ooooh, Nuktuk, oooooh, Nuktuk, oooooooh, he's so haaaaaaaandsome!" Wei made his voice all high and squeaky and fluttered his eyelashes dramatically, throwing himself off of his cushion to the floor.

"I will murder you, Wei Beifong!" shouted Opal.

"Ooooooh, big words from a girl who swore an oath of nonviolence! OW! Hey!" Wei rubbed his thigh, where a decidedly violent kick had landed.

"Opal! Opal! Did you know who I was when I came to Zaofu-" he was cut off by Opal yanking him down and kissing him.

“Aw, that's awful cute,” said Yumi generously. “I just want someone to tell me how he gets his arms to look like that, though.”

Bolin sat up. “Oh well, you know, typical earthbender forms, lots of-” His lecture was cut off by Opal yanking his mouth back down to hers.

“I think he bench presses Opal,” said Korra to Yumi, who laughed at that.

“I'll just _bet_ he does,” she said. "One-handed, probably."

“Laser eyes ahoy,” sang out Kai.

“Go Pabu! Get him,” hollered Ikki.

“Hey, didn't you turn into some big glowing thing for this whole Unalaq situation?” Yumi asked Korra. “I was working for a traveling merchant out of Ba Sing Se at the time, we only got so much news on the road up there.”

“Yeah, Avatar State, caused Harmonic Convergence, you know how it goes,” replied Korra. “I did get pretty big apparently. Also glowy. My memory of what happens while I'm in the Avatar State is a little sketchy sometimes, though. You'd have to ask Bo or Mako for more details, they were there.”

“Shit, girl.”

“Always gives me a bit of a hangover. The Avatar State, I mean.”

“That blows.”

“Yeah, it really does.”

"Shhhh," said Asami, poking Korra's head in her lap. "And that goes for you as well." Yumi got a patented Asami Sato head toss. Yumi's left eyebrow took a slow arc upwards.

“Do you mind?” asked Mako, craning his head around to glare at Korra and Yumi. “My brother’s about to shed his furry vest, and I'd hate to miss it.”

“We'd all hate to miss it,” I said, and he suddenly leaned in to my ear.

“Wait, you don't want me to dress up like Nuktuk, do you?”

I looked at him in horror. “NO. Spirits, no!”

“Okay, good.” I got another Flake as reward. And a very nice follow-up kiss. “Because I would do anything for you, but that might push it over the edge.”

“Okay, now who’s talking?” asked Korra.

Mako shot her a very rude sign involving his fingers.

“Hey, where are my sizzle crisps?” asked Wei irritably.

“Shhhhh!” hissed Kai. “The good part is coming!”

Wei crawled across the floor until he was out of screen range, and then stood up. “Wing! Wing! Where’re my snacks?”

Wing suddenly lurched forward, dazed expression on his face. His hair was sticking up at all ends and his metal collar was knocked to the side. There were no snacks.

“Where’s my food? Come on, I'm hungry. What, do I have to get them myself?” Wei swiped at his brother with annoyance. Wing abruptly sat down, completely missing the cushions, hitting the floor with a solid thunk. 

“Oh,” said Wing, fingers creeping up to touch his mouth. "Oh."

Suspicious, I whipped around and caught Nuo slinking over towards the mover projector, her hair half out of its pins, smoothing her robes down. I couldn't be sure in the dim light given out by the mover, but her cheeks looked bright pink.

“I think Wing just made out with my secretary,” I whispered in Mako’s ear.

“About time,” was his reply, and he popped another Flake in my mouth.

 

Resolutions for Wu:

1) Stop being so thoughtless (working on it)

2) Stop talking like you are in a mover all the time because it annoys Huan (much improved)

3) Apologize to Gaoling for concubine incident (needs to be done)

4) Throw more parties for friends (must make a priority)

5) Play Triad Boss again (brilliant success)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My grandfather, who was born in 1906, only attended a few years of school before his mother died in the Influenza Pandemic in 1918. At that point he and his older brother dropped out of school to hit the road with my great-grandfather, who was a professional baseball player. (True story!) My grandfather was a voracious reader and a self-educated man; a liberal and expansive thinker who became a labor union president later in life. As a child I remember him always having some sort of reading material with him - a newspaper, a trade journal, a book about history, etc. He always had a pen in his hand. He was a fiercely intelligent man who always had an answer - and the time - for all of my incessant questions. I imagine Mako would have been much the same.


	5. Early Summer, Horse Month, 29th Day, 175 AG

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Goodbyes are made, promises are made, and if there are any waterworks, we'll never tell.

Ba Sing Se  
Early Summer, Horse Month, 29th Day, 175 AG

 

Mako woke up in a terrible mood this morning. I'm not surprised - he has to go home today, and as has been well established, he doesn't do feelings very well.

I tried to do my waterbending forms. He stomped through the outer room, slamming things from his bags around unnecessarily. I took deeper breaths and tried to focus. BANG! There went his bag onto my table. SMACK! Was the sound of his dress shoes hitting the floor. FUCK! Flew out of my bedroom.

I knew from past (painful) experience that this was not the best time for me to say anything. Not that I would ever be afraid he would throw lightning bolts at me or anything, my goodness no, but believe you me, Mako is a masterbender of the verbal slow burn. Ouch. Ask me how I know. The usual way I used to deal with An Overemotional Mako In Denial was to go and get my hair cut or something and let him work it out on his own, but time was truly of the essence this morning, Progeny. I didn't want to fight with him, but I didn't want him getting on an airship without knowing how I felt about him, either. It's important to me, you see. No one ever expressed any love to me when I was growing up and it felt dreadful. I don't ever want to be like that, so callous that I won't tell people what I'm feeling. I just don't.

Before I finished my forms he disappeared into the bathroom and turned on the shower and wouldn't come out. Well, Progeny, I will tell you something, I know that little trick of crying in the shower so no one can hear you, so I wasn't having any of that. I finished up and then I slipped in there with him. He wasn't in the shower - just next to it, while it went full blast, luckily Kings have very expansive hot water tanks - and refused to turn around and look at me, so I went up behind him and put my arms around him. It was like hugging a rock, I am sure. I just kept my arms around him and rested my cheek against the nape of his neck and waited.

(I might have dropped a few kisses there as well, but never tell. How can I resist? He's really very kissable, I'm sure.)

After awhile he turned around, and his eyes were red. Oh, my poor Mako. Oh, he will be the breaking of my heart. He's so in control that he won't even let tears come out of his eyes. That just can't be healthy. I know it can't. Don't even try to tell me it is all about firebender control because I have a hard time believing that no firebender in the history of the world has never cried. So there.

"I need to finish packing," he said, and tried to push past me. Oh no you don't. I glommed onto him like an elbow leech.

"I thought I was the one who was supposed to be having the waterworks," I said to him, and he sighed.

"I'm not crying," he said.

"Well. Okay, then. Good to know." I took a deep breath, and tried to make my voice stop wobbling. "Look. Before you go and finish banging things around in my bedroom, I just want to tell you that I love you and I will miss you so much when you go today. So much. I don't want you to go back to Republic City without knowing that." My voice broke. "And now _I'm_ crying, so there's that."

Then I started snuffling, which can in no way be construed as romantic. Also, I must tell you something, Progeny. The fact of the matter is that I am an ugly crybaby. The snot will come, and it won't be dabbed at with a nice hankie, either. It will come in _rivers_. And I make weird noises. And my eyes puff up and my face goes all streaky. Oh, I am the saddest little snotty Wu of ever when I cry.  I would really like to know how those people who can cry with just a few little silent teardrops can manage, because my goodness. I sound like an otter penguin, all bark bark bark.

"Don't _you_ cry," he said, and you know what, Progeny? That made me a little angry.

"Well why not?" I demanded, and then I had to find something to blow my nose on. "I'm sad. No. Strike that. I'm not _sad_. I'm _devastated_. I've just spent what was arguably the most lovely days of my entire life-" HONK HONK HONK "-and now the entire reason for all of that loveliness is leaving and I have to go to a stupid meeting tonight and sit there and pretend that I care in the very least about the stupid Southeastern Provinces when all I will want to be doing, I _assure_ you-" HONK HONK "-is laying in my bed sobbing my heart out. I'm sad! So I'm crying! That being said I assure you that the sun will still rise and set tomorrow even if I do cry. It's not the end of the world or anything!" HOOOOOOOOOOOONK

 

Now Progeny, I am going to tell you something. Mako has, to the best of my knowledge, exactly three weaknesses:

1) Sweets ( _vicious_  sweet tooth)

2) The smell of jasmine (the smell of jasmine always turns his head; there's a reason why I used jasmine bubble bath at the Four Elements and why I have my own custom cologne made that has just a hint of jasmine running through it - listen closely to your great-grandfather, Progeny, and never be ashamed to use whatever advantages you can get, because I'm sure I'm never ashamed to)

3) Tears (as in, other people's tears, not his own,  _clearly_ )

I have fifty thousand weaknesses, I'm sure. I'm an easy mark. I cry at the end of romances, for the love of Raava. I could list all of my weaknesses here but you'd be reading them until you were old and gray and dusty. So I won't.

 

"Wu," he said, and spread his hands helplessly. "Please don't."

"OH WHATEVER," I boo-hooed. Then he tried to put his arms around me and I shoved at him. Which was completely ineffectual, of course, I am sure that one of my weak shoves probably wouldn't even register on his iron-clad musculature. Granted, I could have chi-blocked him into submission, but that would just be rude. And also, Yumi would have my head for doing it when I wasn't being attacked. 

I stamped my foot, exactly like a tantruming toddler. "I don't want to be comforted! I feel sad! I can feel sad if I want to!" (Probably not one of my finer speeches, but well, I challenge you to make a better speech with snot coming down your lip.) 

He stared at me. I blew my nose at him defiantly. He sighed. "Wu, what do you want me to say? I feel rotten. I hate leaving. I worry about you here and I feel helpless back in Republic City. Is that what you want to hear?"

Well, no, it wasn't really. 

"Never mind," I said. "Fine, you feel sad. There. I said it for you. Now go and pack your stupid bag."And maybe I wasn't being fair, Progeny. Because I know that he has feelings, and I know it is hard for him to express them. But you know, I am only human and sometimes I have needs too. And nobody likes feeling like they are the only one who is keeping up the emotional side of things. 

He grabbed me then, and held me tightly. He ignored my feeble attempts to shove at him again. "I'm trying here," he said, into my hair. "Please be patient with me. It's hard for me to turn my brain off, and right now my brain is telling me that I'm a fuck up and you'll think twice about all of this and end things and never come back to Republic City."

I wrapped my arms around him. "Is that what you think?"

He didn't say anything, just clutched me fiercely and tucked his face into the crook of my neck.

"Is that what you think? That I will leave you? That I won't come back to you?"

"Yes," he said, so softly that I could hardly hear it.

"You listen to me here, mister. There is nothing in the world that will keep me away from you. _Nothing_. You'll see. I'm a King, I can have a day off whenever I want, and if people don't like it I will throw them in prison. Also, I have airship, will travel. And more yuan than you can shake a stick at. I will hire air bison to fly above Republic City carrying banners that say Wu Loves Mako. Although, come to think of it, I'm pretty sure Ikki would do it for free."

That got a very very small teeny tiny minuscule laugh. Nothing more than a little breath of laughter. It was enough for me.

"I will hire Varrick to invent telephone lines that will reach all the way to Republic City so I can call you from Ba Sing Se every night. I will run off to the Sandbenders and wait for you in the desert. I will wake up tomorrow morning an airbender and ride an airball all the way there. I will hop on an ostrich horse and gallop towards you. I will join a traveling circus and do cartwheels in your honor. I will hijack a train like a desperado. I will dangle the glove you wore to the coronation that I have already hidden away in my sock drawer in front of a shirsu and ride around until I find you. I will sing to the badgermoles so they'll make a great tunnel all the way there just for you and me." I squeezed him and whispered into his ear, "I will step down as a king and nothing will keep me from you. You wait and see."

His arms tightened around me. "Promise?"

"Oh, yes. I promise. I promise."

He pulled back and looked at me. "I'm hard to get rid of," I said. "You should really know that by now."

"I'm a mess," he said. His eyes were most definitely red, and my neck was a little damp. Shhhh, never tell.

"Well, a very handsome mess, it must be said." I would like to see the tragedy that did not improve the man's looks, I really should.

"I feel like someone has punched me in the heart."

"Poor heart," I said, and kissed right over it.

He sighed, and we were quiet for a few moments. He dropped his cheek to the top of my head.

"Did you really steal my glove?"

"Yes, but don't worry, Nuo had more sent to you in Republic City."

"Of course she did. Don't ever fire that girl."

"Oh, don't worry. I won't." I pulled away from him, and looked him in the eyes. "Listen. This hasn't been reported anywhere, so please keep a lid on it. The southwestern states are going to be breaking off here pretty soon. Yi is ready to roll, as is Omashu, and Gaoling too, for the most part. Zhu is coming along nicely as well. Su and Baatar have been working through their own negotiations with the King of Omashu, since technically Zaofu is in that territory. Well, sort of. Su bought the land from the King and mostly Ba Sing Se just left her alone, but they are doing some haggling over the legality of it now. Well, not _my_ problem, for once. Anyhow, the infrastructure in those provinces is quite sound, and Omashu and Yi have been working together to put down a lot of the bandit problems there, which were keeping the supply lines erratic. Omashu is going to keep their King and elect a parliament and a prime minister. Not what I would do, personally, but it's what they've decided to do there, so I'm giving it my support. I'm also hoping the Hudayao Islands to the south will break away soon as well - they've decided to create one nation between all of the islands and have been very peaceful in their negotiations, and I know they are already working to hold votes. They aren't heavily populated, though, so that probably has a lot to do with it. It _is_ progressing. I know I complain a lot, and I still have no idea what to do about those damnable Southeastern Provinces, but progress is being made. I won't be here forever."

He stared at me.

"What?"

"You're really doing this, aren't you?"

"Why will no one believe me? _Honestly._ How many times have I said it?"

That got a very faint smile out of him. "Too many to count."

"That's right. Now look, I want to talk to you about something," I said. "I know we don't have a lot of time this morning, so I just wanted to put the thought in your head for later, okay?"

He looked at me rather dubiously. "Okaaaaaaaaaay."

I took him by the hand and walked us out to sit down on the edge of my bed. I took a deep breath.

"The thing is, Mako...I can't stay in Ba Sing Se. When this is all over, I mean. If I stay, I can pretty much guarantee you that they will try to put me in place as some sort of governor or president. There are a lot of people who want nothing to do with this whole abdication thing, they just want their King."

"My grandmother being one of them."

"Right, and she's not the only one, believe me. And the thing is...what those people will be looking to do really is re-establish me as a King in everything but name. Which will totally derail any democratic progress being made.  And if I were to get married, and have children, well, they'd just sort of easily slide riiiiiiiiiiight back into the whole monarchy thing. I'm not having it. And on a very personal level? This isn't my city. I still haven't gone out beyond the Upper Ring area. I don't know this city at all, I never have. It's not home to me. When I'm done with all of this I plan on gifting the entirety of the property of the Palace to Ba Sing Se - they will most likely make it into some sort of publicly owned monument or something, and more power to them - and then I am moving back to Republic City and making my home there. I just wanted you to know that. That's my plan. It's always been my plan, I haven't said anything before now because I didn't want you to think I was trying to be pushy or pressure you into having any kind of relationship with me or anything. There's no pressure there, truly. I won't lie and say that you aren't a part of that decision now, but I knew it was the right decision even when I thought you weren't going to be a part of it."

He looked at me with dismay. This was not encouraging, Progeny, not at all. Not the response I was looking for, I can _assure_ you.

"Um," he said.

I felt little flutters of panic creeping in, Progeny. I did. I was starting to careen into nervous little poodle monkey territory, absolutely. Now what had I said wrong?

"The thing is, Wu..." he frowned. "The thing is, my flat is very small. I mean, really small. And not all that nice."

I gawped at him. I did. Mouth wide open. That was not _at all_ what I was expecting him to say. And then, bless the poor man and all of his earnestness, I started to laugh. And by laugh, I mean I threw my head back and _guffawed_ at him. And oh, my goodness, did he scowl at me! Ferociously scowled at me, might I add. I'm sure even Triad bosses would have turned tail and run from that scowl. Good thing I'm a King who used to get scowled at by the Queen of the Earth Kingdom, then. Mako's got nothing on her, let me _assure_ you.

"What's so damn funny about that?"

I threw my arms around him. "Oh, Mako! My dear, dear, beloved man. Is there really any part of you that honestly thought I would live with you in a tiny downtown flat?" I kissed him.

He glared. "Excuse me? So you don't want to live with me?" Oh, there went that touchy pride.

I kissed him again. "Mako. Mako, Mako, Mako. I will of course be purchasing a home. Preferably a very swanky one. In a very nice neighborhood. I will have it professionally decorated, of course. We will live there."

His eyes flashed. "Well, that's a pretty big assumption!"

I tried to stop laughing, I really did. I didn't succeed, but I did try. "Oh ho, and assuming that _I_ would move into _your_ flat wasn't?"

He opened his mouth, and I pointed at him. "HA! Argue _that_ then, detective!"

He shut his mouth again, and looked very sulky. My goodness the man is awful balky some of the time. I imagine he gave his mother fits with his baby stubbornness. 

"Mako, I'm not going to live in poverty or even lower middle class just to prove something, although what it would prove I have absolutely no idea. I'm certainly not asking you to give up your job! I told you before that I know how good you are at it and I know how much it means to you, I would never dream of it. You aren't a concubine, damn it. I am saying, however, that I do have money, and while I don't need a palace or even, spirits forfend, the Sato estate in the middle of Republic City, a nice home is a completely reasonable thing for an abdicated monarch to have. I do have a lot of money. It is who I am. If you want me, you have to figure out how to accept that about me. I don't plan on giving it all up. I think giving up a monarchy is really enough sacrifice for the time being, I really do."

He grunted at me. "I think I liked you better when you were clubbing your way around Republic City and acting like the fool trying to hit on women."

"No you didn't."

He sighed. "No, I really didn't. Look. I need to think about all of this. I'm not like you, I can't just make decisions in a split second."

"You think I don't know that? Of course I know that! That's why I wanted to bring it up now! I won't be moving back to Republic City for at least another year, if not longer. You have all the time you need to think it over. And I will do my part by not bugging you about it."

He looked at me skeptically. "You won't bug me about it? _You_? Right."

I placed my hand over my heart. "You wound me, you really do."

"Hmphm," he grunted.

"Now kiss me, please. I don't know when I am going to get to kiss you again and I want to remember it. So you better make it a good one, detective."

He made it a very good one _indeed_.

 

The palace airfield was crowded. Asami's own airship was there; she had very kindly offered to take Yin's entire family with her back to Republic City. They had taken the train into Ba Sing Se, and it really was considerate of her. Tu was going back with them. His father said that since they would be getting ready to move that Tu was needed. I'm not sure how useful Tu is, but I suppose those arms of his can certainly load moving boxes! (I don't think Tu will be staying in the countryside, though. Now that he can metalbend, he's been talking about possibly getting a job on the police force. I shudder to think, I really do.) Korra, Mako and Lin would be traveling with her as well. I made my way amongst Mako's family, saying goodbye and making them promise to keep me updated about the move. Grandma Yin got an especially nice kiss from me. I am _exceedingly_ fond of Grandma. I write her at least once a week.

There were two air bison; Tenzin was taking Opal, Jinora and Bolin with him to the Northern Air Temple to see if there was anything at all salvageable. Mako said Bolin wasn't very hopeful but that he was willing to go and shift some of the volcanic rock for them. Ikki was there with her air bison - who has the incongruous name of Blueberry Spicehead, or so I hear from Huan - and was going to be taking the rest of the airbenders back home.

Firelord Izumi's airship was already gone. Obviously Izumi and Iroh kept earlier hours than I did. Well, they did have the farthest to go.

The Zaofu group's airship was the farthest from the residential part of the palace. Mako stayed behind a moment to talk to Asami, but Su motioned me over to where she and Huan were talking, surrounded by the rest of the family. Yumi and Nuo followed behind me.

"Well of course you can stay, Huan. But are you sure? Wu is very busy, and what will you do with yourself?"

"I'll draw," said Huan, from behind the curtain of his hair. "Wu already said I can use his Conservatory."

I had, as it happens.

Su looked skeptical. "Well, is that all you are going to do? Draw?"

Huan pushed at the dirt with his booted toe. "I'm going to keep Wu company. He's my friend." The last was said to me. I smiled back at him. 

Su turned her attention to me. "Well, if you're sure it won't be any trouble..."

"Huan is my friend," I said. "I will always be glad to have him. Always."

Su threw her hands up into the air. "Well, I'm obviously in the minority here."

Lin snorted. "Let go of those apron strings a little, Su."

That earned her a scathingly dirty look, let me assure you.

Su tried one last tack. "Well, you don't have any of your supplies with you."

Baatar put his arm around her shoulder. "Susi, they sell art supplies in Ba Sing Se. Huan can buy whatever he needs."

Huan shoved his hair behind his ear. "I want my own things."

Huh. News to me. I knew for a fact that Huan had been drawing here. Well, I wasn't going to rat him out or anything, and besides, who am I to say if he wants his old things here with him?

Baatar frowned a bit. "Well, son, if you want them I guess you can come back with us to get them and then return here."

Huan shook his head. "I get sick."

This was true, Huan got horribly sick in any kind of moving vehicles. The poor man could hardly ride in the Satomobile five minutes without turning green. He had vomited his entire way in the airship from Zaofu to Ba Sing Se and back. It wasn't pretty.

Su sighed. "Well, sweetie, what do you want us to do?"

Huan shrugged. "I was thinking maybe Wei and Wing could bring them back for me."

Wing looked up quickly, his eyes locking for a quick moment on his brother before sliding over to dart at Nuo, standing next to me with her clipboard.

Su frowned. "Well, I don't know about that..."

Baatar suddenly smiled. "Well, that's not such a bad idea, is it? You wouldn't mind helping your brother out, would you, boys?"

"Yeah, sure," said Wei. He grinned. "Can we take the airship?"

Wing just looked hopeful.

"Well, they could even stay for a bit, if they wanted," I casually offered. "I mean, it's not like I don't have plenty of room. They can see the sights around Ba Sing Se for a few weeks or whatever. Something new to look at, anyhow."

Baatar winked at me behind his wife's back. "Well, that sounds like fun, doesn't it? What do you boys say? Come home with us today, gather together Huan's things, pack a bag for a couple of weeks and come and stay for a bit with Wu?"

"Awesome!" said Wei, and he pumped his fist. "So can we take the airship back?"

Su looked dubious. "Well, if you're sure it isn't an imposition, Wu..."

I motioned around me. "Nothing of the sort. We've plenty of room. Between you and me, it might be nice to actually get to see a few more people under the age of twenty-five around here."

She smiled at me. "Well, that's true. All work and no play make Chang a dull boy."

"You know, Susi, you and I haven't had the house to ourselves for far too many years now. I can't say as I would mind having you all to myself for a bit." Baatar gave his wife, hand to Raava, a very sassy eyebrow wiggle. She giggled back at him.

"Are you talking about sex? Dad! Mom! Stop!" Wei made a face at them.

His mother shot him a look. "Oh, so sorry to offend your delicate sensibilities. And where do you think you came from, I'd like to know?"

"Not hearing this, lalalalalalalalala," sang out Wei, clapping his hands over his ears.

His mother rolled her eyes at him before looking back at me. "Are you sure, Wu?"

"I'm sure. Nuo here can make all the arrangements on our end."

"Of course, Your Majesty," Nuo said smoothly. "Ah, here are the porters for your bags. Is there anywhere specific you would like them, Madame Beifong?" Su walked with Nuo, pointing at the airship. Wei and Baatar followed alongside. Lin sighed loudly and wandered behind them.

Wing sat next to Huan. 

Huan reached over and gently tapped his brother's hand with his forefinger. Wing tapped back. "Best of babiest brothers," Huan whispered.

"Best of biggest brothers," whispered Wing in return. He looked up at me. "Thanks, Wu."

I gave him a wink. "Carry on. Just do me a favor and try not to distract my secretary too much before I'm abdicated, okay?"

Wing's hands flew up to cover his face and the tips of his ears turned red. It suited him, I'm sure.

 

The air bison were the first to take off. Mako and Bolin hugged each other; Pema kissed each and every person on Oogi and waved them goodbye. Opal shouted promises to visit Zaofu soon down to her parents as Oogi launched into the air with a bellow. Meelo helped his mother aboard, where Rohan was already waiting, making sure she was settled before taking his brother into his lap. Ikki vaulted up after after them, blowing kisses and calling her goodbyes as her bracelets caught the sun. Kai took up the reins, called out the traditional "Yip! Yip!" and Lefty took off as well.

Su hugged her sister and hugged me as well. "Are you sure about the boys, Wu? You know they can be a handful."

"I'm sure. They're welcome," I said, and she smiled. Huan stood next to me and waved as they all started to walk up the gangplank. At the last moment before he stepped onto the gangplank, Wing quickly took an envelope out of his pocket and dropped it on top of Nuo's clipboard without looking at or speaking to her. The gangplank raised up - compliments of the twins, it must be awfully handy to have metalbending children sometimes, I should think - and their ship made its way south. I approached Asami's ship with Lin.

Lin looked at me sourly. "So am I going to get any use out of that man now?"

I smiled. "He _is_ very useful. Ask anyone."

She grunted. "So you planning on bringing him here to keep you company?"

I looked at her seriously. "No, I'm not. He loves his job. I already took him away from it once, I'm not going to take him away from it again."

She didn't say anything for a few moments. "My sister tells me you are actually doing better than a half-assed job with all of this."

"Surprise, surprise," I said. "Shocking, I know."

"You're kind of a smartass, you know that?"

"I'm pretty sure there's a law on the books here that allows me to throw you in jail for calling me a smartass."

That got a jolt of laughter out of her. "He's going to mope all the way back to Republic City, I just know it."

"He is a great one for moping, that's true."

She was quiet for another moment, staring out over the airfield. "You'll take it easy on that boy, will you? Not that I won't deny it if you tell him I said it, but I'm reasonably fond of him."

"Well, I'm reasonably fond of him myself, so I guess I'll say the same back to you."

She snorted.

I looked at her. "I know you were the one that convinced him to come here. I wanted to thank you for that."

She tipped her chin up at me. "Don't let it go to your head. You planning on coming back to Republic City when this is all over here?"

"That is the plan, yes. I need to buy a house. Know of any nice houses in any good neighborhoods that were left standing?"

She thought for a few moments. "I do, actually. Several stories, looks out onto one of the parks. Missed out on the damage, fine neighborhood. Good schools, or so I am given to understand. House itself needs cosmetic work, but the structure's still good. Open floor plan, plenty of room. It's even got a pretty decent backyard for a city house. Hasn't been lived in for awhile, though. Needs a phone line, that kind of thing. Nothing that some yuan couldn't fix up."

"I have plenty of yuan."

"So I've heard. Think you might be interested?"

"Might be. Who should I call?"

"You can call me."

I glanced at her.

"It's my mother's old house. I haven't done a damn thing with it for nearly thirty years now. Su's never wanted it, and apparently my mother is content to live in a damn swamp for the rest of her days. I wouldn't speak for the decor, but I've made sure that it's been kept up. You want it, it's yours. Just make him move out of that flat, would you? It's a fucking pit."

"I think I can arrange that."

"You do that, then." She nodded at Asami's airship, where Asami was waving at her. "Looks like we're up. You hang in there, kiddo. He's got some unused vacation time. I'll make sure he uses it. Spirits know he's always in a better mood when he gets laid."

I walked her to the airship. Mako was standing at the bottom of the gangplank, looking exceedingly miserable. Lin thumped him on the shoulder as she walked past and made her way up into the ship.

Oh Progeny, I wish I could tell you that I was handsome and brave and strong. I wasn't. I started sniffling _again_ and he looked like someone had punched him and he leaned forward and clutched at my upper arms and then turned tail and fairly ran up the gangplank without even saying goodbye. This is not the kind of farewell you read about in romances; he should have declaimed his love and kissed me passionately and spouted poetry or something. But he is, after all, just my own Mako; awkward and stoic. I am just his own Wu; impulsive and overemotional. I guess this is as good a goodbye as we were going to get. 

If I know the man, he probably stomped through the airship until he found a private corner and then refused to speak to anyone at all for the rest of the trip. Alas! I did not have such luck, I had to meet with people later in the day. However, I did have Nuo, who handed me over a hankie.

"Thanks, Nuo."

"Of course, Your Majesty."

I mopped at my eyes. Huan wandered over and stood next to me. He gave my shoulder a little pat, which for Huan is as good as a hug.

"You going to make it, Dumpling?" Yumi cocked her head at me.

"Not much choice, do I? Anyhow, the sooner I get this over with the sooner I can get out of this damn city." I glanced at Nuo. "No offense, Nuo."

"Certainly none taken, Your Majesty." She stood for a moment, watching the airship curve slightly in the air before starting its journey west. She turned her clear gaze towards Huan, who immediately ducked behind his hair. "I appreciate what you did, Mister Huan."

Huan blinked. "Uh..."

"Asking your brothers to bring your things."

"Oh. Well. I do get sick on airships. Also, trains are no good, clackety bump." He looked down at his hands. "Our family goes criss-cross." He fluttered his fingers, looking for the words. "Junior and Opal and Wei, all sharp thrusting cliffs. Like Mom. Like Grandma. Like Aunt Lin. Wing and Huan. Well. More like soft-edged river rocks. Like Dad. Maybe sometimes people see the cliffs spitting out and don't notice the little rocks hidden in the water." He frowned a little and waved his hands. "The words aren't coming right now."

Nuo smiled at him. "No, I understood the words. I understood them very well. Thank you, Mister Huan."

"Oh," he said, but he looked pleased.

I took a deep breath and turned to Nuo. "Am I presentable?"

She cocked her head and looked at me before she handed her clipboard to Yumi, who handled it like it was going to explode. "If I may?"

"Knock yourself out," I said. What came next was a whirlwind of straightening me up, patting me down, a quick smoothing of my hair, and a few swipes at my face with her hankie. 

"There, now Your Majesty is presentable."

Huan backed away. "Please never do that to me."

She gave him a look. "Certainly not, Mister Huan." She held her hand out for her clipboard, which Yumi handed back gingerly. "Are we going to visit the Representative from Gaoling now?"

How does she do that? How does she? It's a little terrifying. What must she have been like as a little girl? The ruler of her entire neighborhood, I am sure. I dare even the Great Uniter to try to get the better of Nuo.

"Er...yes. Yes."

We all stood there for a moment.

"Whoosh, whoosh!" Nuo said, and herded us along. Clip clip clip we all went. I am not entirely certain if Huan wished to come with me to speak to Gaoling, but I think he was too intimidated by Nuo's clipboard to do anything else but come along. Down the halls we went until we reached the part of the palace where the various representatives were staying. Nuo went up to one of the doors and raised her eyebrow at me. Well. It had to be done, unpleasant as it was. I took a deep breath and nodded at her. She handed her clipboard to Huan (who nearly dropped it in his surprise) and rapped smartly on the door.

After a few moments Gaoling answered. Nuo bowed respectfully.

"I do apologize for the unusual interruption, Representative Yun, but His Majesty wishes to know if he might have a private word with you?"

YUN! That was his name! I never could keep it straight in my head. I am terrible with names. I really do need to work on that.

Gaoling craned his head out the door and saw me. His eyes widened. "Ah, of course! Your Majesty!" He bowed.

"If it isn't too much of an imposition?" I asked politely, nodding back at him.

"Of course not, Your Majesty." He looked about for a moment. "Ah..."

Nuo correctly interpreted his dilemma, and gestured to one of the decorative benches that were placed in intervals within the palace hallways. "If you might sit there with His Majesty?"

"Of course, of course," he said, looking slightly bewildered. He walked to the bench and waited for me. I seated myself, and nodded for him to seat himself as well. Nuo, Yumi and Huan stepped out of earshot. He sat down carefully.

"I apologize for the odd circumstances," I said.

"Your Majesty does not need to apologize to me," he demurred.

"That is not precisely true." I turned to him and made eye contact. "I do owe you an apology for my comment all those months ago. About the concubines, while we were having lunch. It was...childish of me. It certainly was not worthy of you. Please accept my apologies for my foolish behavior. I am quite sorry for both the offense as well as the unfortunate bean curd pastry...er...incident...afterward." I stood and bowed to him very correctly and with honor, as a King would bow.

He immediately came to his feet and returned the bow, very correctly as well. "Your Majesty...I must stress again, you do not need to apologize to me!"

"Yes, I do." I smiled, just a little. "I am not so exalted, Representative Yun, that I cannot apologize when necessary. I am not my Great-Aunt." I sat back down and gestured for him to do the same.

He settled his robes about him and nodded at me. "You are certainly not, Your Majesty." He looked at me for a moment. "I forget, sometimes, how very young Your Majesty is." We sat quietly for a moment before he spoke again. "I knew your mother. Did you know that?"

I blinked, and leaned forward a bit. "I did not! I don't know much about her. She wasn't...ah...she wasn't discussed much. With me, I mean."

"You do know she was from Gaoling, yes?"

I nodded.

"She was about ten years younger than I was, Meili. The same age as my youngest sister. They were very good friends and your mother visited our home many times. She was an only child of much older parents, you know, a very sweet girl, kind and rather impulsive, much as I think Your Majesty is. You look very much like her, especially when you smile. She loved music, much as I have heard Your Majesty does; in fact she was a very gifted yangqin player."

"I didn't know that," I said. My mother loved music?

He smiled. "She was quite good. I do remember once that she and some of the other young ladies were giving a concert. I have never been one for music, but my sister was playing as well, so I naturally I attended. They were in the middle of a song when a spider wasp came right up to the small stage area. All of the young ladies scattered with screams; all except for your mother. She got this look on her face - the same exact look that I have seen Your Majesty get on his face when our meetings are not going particularly well - and despite the screaming and the fact that she had been deserted by all the other musicians she finished the entire song alone. Very fearless girl, your mother. Very determined."

I laughed a little. "I'm not very fond of spider wasps myself."

He sighed. "I was very sorry when I heard that they had arranged to marry her to your father. Your grandfather had died and your grandmother was quite ill when the match was made, you see. In fact she died not long after your parents were married. It was considered quite a match, of course; your mother would be the consort to a King and the mother of future Hou-Tings." He looked me in the eyes. "I do not wish to insult Your Majesty's exalted family, but I have always believed your mother deserved better than your father. She deserved better than living here alone, amongst his concubines and his petty cruelties. If her letters to my sister are to be believed, your mother was quite desperately unhappy here. Until she was pregnant with you, that is. That at least made her happy." He took a deep breath. "My sister was quite devastated when she heard that your mother had died. She still speaks with great fondness of your mother."

I sat for a few moments. "Thank you. For telling me. I can see why my comment about the concubines would have been particularly offensive to you." I was ashamed, Progeny. Very ashamed. Thoroughly ashamed. Oh, when will I think before I speak?

He smiled at me, suddenly. "If Your Majesty would like, I could ask my sister if she might share some of her personal memories with you. She writes to me frequently here and always asks after Your Majesty. In fact, I have something for Your Majesty, if you might permit me to fetch it?" He gestured to his room.

"Oh! Of course." I watched as he walked back into his rooms, leaving the door open. Yumi caught my eye and raised an eyebrow. I motioned at her to stay where she was.

Gaoling returned with an envelope, which he handed to me before sitting down. "She sent it here with my husband when he came up for the coronation."

I opened the envelope and a photograph slid out. It was an outdoor scene, with four teenaged girls, dressed in pretty robes, their hair twisted and pinned with combs and flowers, sitting on a bench in front of a blossoming tree. I knew the girl sitting on the end immediately. She had been captured laughing, and yes, I knew that smile and those eyes. She was beautiful, my mother. So beautiful. So alive.

Gaoling pointed a finger. "This one is my sister, Chun. I'm not sure who the other two girls are, friends, I suppose."

I turned the photograph over. _For little Wu, from his mother's dearest friend, Chun_ was written there. I blinked back tears. "Would you be so kind as to give your sister's address to my secretary? I would very much like to write her to thank her myself."

Gaoling - Yun - smiled. "I am sure she would be very pleased indeed to hear from Your Majesty." 

I swallowed past the ache in my throat. "Thank you. Very much."

"You are most welcome, Your Majesty."

At that point Nuo politely approached and reminded the both of us that we had a meeting in another half-hour or so. Yun and I bowed to each other, and I gave my photo to Nuo to hold on to and made my way to the meeting. (Nuo lent me yet another hankie to put myself back into order. I was certainly enjoying the waterworks today, Progeny!) The meeting went better than expected. Yun did not make any asinine comments about anything; on the contrary, he spoke up to defend me when the Representative from Lanxi got a little disgruntled with me.

I was exhausted when the meeting was over, however. What was supposed to be an hour or so to discuss the next week's agenda ended up lasting nearly three hours. Good hours, mind you, but long hours. My eyes were full of sand and my head was aching. Yumi walked me back to my room sympathetically. "Try and get a little shut-eye, will you Dumpling? You look like something washed ashore in a storm."

"Thanks very much."

I was so tired I didn't even want to eat. I just wanted to brush my teeth and go to bed. I finished in the bathroom and saw my mother's photograph already in a frame on my night table. (How DOES Nuo do it?) I crawled into bed and reached for "Sandstorms in the Desert" - I usually read a little bit in bed, it helps me get to sleep. Instead of being turned upside down or having the page polarbear dogeared (as per usual) to hold my place, though, I saw there was a piece of paper marking my place. _Mako_ , I thought, and I smiled. He's always so careful with his books, uses bookmarks, never cracks the spines. It makes him crazy how casually I treat books. I wasn't sure when he had put it in there; we hadn't looked at all at the book either yesterday or today.

I pulled the paper out and discovered it was a letter. Which I will leave here for you to read.

I'm sure you'll understand, Progeny, if the ink is just a little bit smeary.

 

Dear Wu,

I'm not a very inspired letter writer. I'm an even worse romantic. I don't have that gift of making things beautiful. I like things that I can hold in my hands and do something with, I could never do that with words. Well, you know that about me already.

I want to try, though. You've been so open and honest with me and I know you love your romances and your poetry, so I will give this my best shot. (It might not be a good one, but you know what they say, it's the thought that counts.)

I have this memory of you. I had been working for you for about six months or so and we had spent the evening at one of the music halls you liked. Big Sal's. There was that jazz band you loved, the one with the woman singer who always wore red. We went and you were being your usual self, listening to the music and dancing and flitting around the crowds like you always did. They were closing down and we were finally leaving - you always have hated to leave anything until the very end - and we walked out to where the car was waiting and there was the sound of crying. It was a girl in a party dress, sitting on the curb of the sidewalk, just sobbing. People were avoiding her. Not you, though. Before I knew what you were doing you ran over to her and sat right down next to her, you didn't even care how dirty everything was. "Why the waterworks, Gumdrop?" you asked her, and she looked up at you, and you passed her your handkerchief and said, "What rube would make such a pretty doll like you cry like that?" and she told you all about how her boyfriend had shown up with another woman, and she cried more, and I was so pissed at you, it was late and I was tired and it was cold that night, and then you gave her your jacket to wear and I was thinking Great, now he'll catch a cold and it will somehow be my fault! But you kept talking to her, and the next thing I knew you had your arm around her, and then she was smiling a little, and then laughing, and then you danced her up and down the street and announced to me that her name was Gyuri and we were giving her a ride home. And she sat in that car with us and you told her how pretty she was and how you were sure that any boy would be thrilled to take her out, and by the time we dropped her off she was a completely different girl. 

At the time I was so annoyed with you. I just wanted to go home and take a shower and wash off the smoke and the drink you'd spilled on me and go to bed. I was tired to damn death of you hitting on every woman that you saw. I was pretty unhappy then, I didn't want my job and my brother and Korra were both gone and I hardly ever saw Asami and I was full of regret and a lot of anger. None of which was your fault, of course.

It was only later that I started to think about that night. Really think about it, I mean. Why did you do that? There was nothing in it for you. You didn't ask her out on a date or ever once try to hit on her. You saw a girl crying and there went your heart, you just wanted to make her feel better. You did, too. 

I've never had that gift with people. I'll never be able to do that. I've fought hard, I've battled and I have the scars, you know that. More than one. I was present and backed Korra up every time she needed me to and helped bring about Harmonic Convergence and brought that mecha down too and I'm proud of those things. But I've never in my whole life made a heartbroken stranger laugh and dance down the street. That's a power too. It's yours. 

You were always teasing me about what was in my green notebook. The answer is: You are. Wu is my green notebook. That is where I write the things I want to remember about you. I wrote that story about the crying girl outside of Big Sal's in that notebook. I read through it now and see for myself where it started to go from who the hell does this kid think he is to I am falling in love with this man. The green notebook is my book of I love you. Maybe someday, if I am feeling brave enough, I will let you read it too.

You know I don't read poetry much - I don't really understand it, sorry to say, it makes my head ache with trying to figure it out usually. But I tried to read some because I know you love it. If you love it then I want to know it. I wasn't really getting anywhere until I saw this one, though. For once I think I understand why you love poetry.

 _The bright moon, oh, how white it shines,_  
_Shines down on the gauze curtains of my bed._  
_Racked by sorrow I toss and cannot sleep._  
_Picking up my clothes, I wander up and down._  
_My absent love says that he is happy,_  
_But I would rather he said he was coming back._  
_Out in the courtyard I stand hesitating, alone._  
_To whom can I tell the sad thoughts I think?_  
_Staring before me I enter my room again;_  
_Falling tears wet my mantle and robe._

Come home soon.

-Mako

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mako's poem for Wu comes from a translation by Arthur Waley of an anonymous Chinese poem from somewhere in the timeframe of 100 B.C.E. - 100 C.E.
> 
> Thank you all for flying Wuko Airlines! We hope your flight has been an enjoyable one and that you fly with us again!


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